Hosta aka Plantain Lily

Hosta, also known as plantain lilies or gibōshi in Japanese, is a genus of shade-tolerant foliage plants. Native to northeast Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, hostas are widely cultivated as medium-sized clump-forming, deciduous perennials. They have long green leaves, variegated with a wide yellow margin, and long red stems. During the summer, purple flowers bloom above the foliage. Hostas are herbaceous perennial plants that grow from rhizomes or stolons. Their leaves can vary widely in size, ranging from 1 to 18 inches long and 0.75 to 12 inches broad, depending on the species. While primarily grown for ornamental purposes, all species of hosta are edible and are even consumed as vegetables in certain Asian cultures. The genus was named by Austrian botanist Leopold Trattinnick in 1812 as a tribute to the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host. German botanist Kurt Sprengel later used the generic name Funkia in 1817, in honor of Heinrich Christian Funck, a collector of ferns and alpines. This name has also been used as a common name in older literature.