Heuchera villosa forma purpurea ‘Palace Purple’ – Mapleleaf Alumroot

This large, showy plant grows on moist rocky cliffs and outcrops primarily in the Southern Appalachian Mountains from West Virginia to Kentucky south to Alabama and Georgia. It’s a late bloomer, forming airy panicles of flowers that appear like a veil over the sharply lobed foliage. While tiny, the flowers provide nectar for small bees and, somewhat surprisingly, hummingbirds as well. ‘Autumn Bride’ is the most common form in horticulture with hirsute, velvety leaves and somewhat larger flowers. The species often has leaves that take on a purplish cast, particularly pronounced in ‘Palace Purple.’ ‘Bronze Wave’ from Primrose Path in Pennsylvania has shiny, almost lacquered looking foliage. Mapleleaf Alumroot is being used more and more by breeders to lend vigor and large foliage size to plants – many of the best alumroot cultivars we offer have H. villosa in their parentage.

‘Palace Purple’ was derived from seeds collected by botanist Edgar Wherry in the American southeast and sent to England – one seedling growing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew near Kew Palace had particularly dark foliage. Offspring from the plant started the seed strain ‘Palace Purple.’ Unfortunately, as is true with plant lines grown from seed in general many offspring fail to achieve the magnificence of the original plant and over time the strain’s foliage can be less dark than the original. We get starter plants and seeds and mature plants from as many growers as we can in an attempt to find plants that resemble photos of the original  ‘Palace Purple.’ And remember, foliage color of Heuchera is affected by the amount of sun plants receive. For the darkest foliage provide a resonable amount of sun, though the plant should not be considered a full sun plant. In full sun, foliage can scorch.

You may often see ‘Palace Purple’ attributed to Crevice Alumroot, Heuchera micrantha var diversifolia, from Northern California mostly along the coast to British Columbia.  This attribution is a labeling error that continues to get propagated 30 years later by nurseries who simply copy names from other nurseries who have the name wrong. Even the highly respected Missouri Botanic Garden has it wrong. ‘Palace Purple’ is NOT a cultivar of Crevice Alumroot but of the southeastern H. villosa that grows in the area in which Edgar Wherry was collecting seeds.