Fringe Cups Care

Tellima grandiflora, the bigflower tellima or fringecups, is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Saxifragaceae. It is the only species in the genus Tellima. It grows better in cool climates than hot, humid ones.

Tellima grandiflora, commonly called fringecup, is a clump-forming but spreading perennial which is native to moist woods and slopes from Alaska to Idaho and central California. Fringecup is in the same family as and similar in appearance to Heuchera, Tiarella and Mitella (anagram of Tellima). Features a basal clump of toothed, shallowly-lobed, rounded, hairy, long-stalked, dark green leaves (to 4" across) which typically grow in a mound to 10" tall. Leaves may be tinged with purple and are semi-evergreen in warm winters. Greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers (1/2" long) with five reflexed fringed petals (tiny "fringed cups" as it were) appear in late spring in terminal racemes atop erect, wiry, nearly leafless stems rising well above the foliage clump, thus bringing total plant height when in flower to 24" tall. Flowers mature to pink. Also sometimes commonly called false alum root. Specific epithet means large-flowered.