Philadelphus insignis Carr.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Philadelphus insignis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-insignis/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Synonyms

  • P. billiardii Koehne
  • P. 'Sou venir de Billiard '

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Philadelphus insignis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-insignis/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

The origin of this handsome mock orange is not known, but it is probably a hybrid. It is a vigorous bush up to 10 or 12 ft high; young shoots glabrous or nearly so; bark of year-old ones not peeling. Leaves ovate or sometimes heart-shaped, 112 to 312 in. long, 114 to 212 in. wide, minutely and sparsely toothed, glabrous and glossy green above, shaggy with pale hairs beneath. Flowers faintly perfumed, pure white, cupped, a little over 1 in. across, produced during late June in leafy terminal panicles of fifteen to over twenty blossoms. Petals roundish, 34 in. long, overlapping; calyx and flower-stalk hairy; style shorter than the stamens, united just below the stigmas.

Although cultivated since before 1870, this is not much grown in gardens, although certainly one of the most attractive of mock oranges. It is distinct in its many-flowered inflorescences, combined with its glossy green leaves, its cupped flowers, and overlapping petals, and is useful in flowering well into July.

Rehder considered that P. insignis is a hybrid between P. pubescens and either P. californicus or P. cordifolius (an ally of P. californicus not treated here). Dr Hu, however, points out that matching plants occur wild in California and accepts P. insignis as a Californian native, allied to P. californicus (Journ. Arn. Arb., Vol. 37, p. 40).