Registered by Peter and Jean Ruh of Ohio in 2003 and re-registered with new data in 2018, this cultivar is of unidentified parentage but thought to be of H. 'Sieboldiana' background. According to The Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid (1991), this plant was originally imported into Germany from Japan by Karl Foerster in the 1930s.

'Semperaurea' is a large size (24 inches high by 48 inches wide) hosta with foliage that starts the season light greenish and changes to golden-yellow colored as the season progresses. The leaves are broadly ovate and have a glaucous bloom on top. Near white flowers bloom on scapes 28 to 32 inches tall in late June followed by viable seeds.

According to the registration information, "...frequent gold seedlings; shows less tendency to become necrotic in direct sun...Introducer: K. Foerster...lutescent, first green, then chartreuse to yellowish green in spring, golden yellow by anthesis..."

Nomenclature changes recommended in the 1991 book The Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid and accepted by The American Hosta Society would update names as follows: H. x tardiana is now Tardiana Group.

The German name for this cultivar is H. 'Dauergoldfunkie'.

An article by W. George Schmid in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "The other German hosta of great interest is H. 'Semperaurea'...it is the most magnificent golden-leaved hosta I have seen...said to have come from Japan in the 1930's, and, therefore, there would have existed a golden-margined form of H. 'Sieboldiana' -- which we now call H. 'Frances Williams' -- in Japan during that time."

An article by W. George Schmid in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "In England Heinz Klose obtained a number of H. x tardiana plants after Eric Smith left Hadspen House nursery. He is also actively selecting and propagating H. 'Semperaurea' seedlings...Named by him are several hybrid seedlings: H. 'Goldpfeil' ('Gold Arrow'), H. 'Weisse Glocke' ('White Bell'), and H. 'Zitronenfalter' ('Lemon Butterfly')...special cultivars with H. 'Sieboldiana' lines are: H. 'Blauglut' ('Blue Glow') and H. 'Blaue Wolke' ('Blue Cloud') which reminds one of H. 'Blue Heaven'...with his H. x tardiana...has named one H. 'Irische See' ('Irish Sea')...H. 'Nordatlantic' ('North Atlantic')..."

An article about H. 'Semperaurea' by W. George Schmid in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "Through the kind cooperation of Mrs. Ursula Syre-Herz of Coastal Gardens and Nursery in Myrtle Beach, SC, I was able to obtain all of the pertinent information from three of Foerster's books in her possession. All of the Books mention 'Dauergoldfunkie', the German name for H. ' Semperaurea'...Foerster's books were published before 1959, and thus the Latin cultivar name 'Semperaurea' is permissible under the Cultivated Code."