Reevesia pubescens Mast.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Reevesia pubescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/reevesia/reevesia-pubescens/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Synonyms

  • R. sinica Wils.
  • Eriolaena yunnanensis W. W. Sm.

Other taxa in genus

    Glossary

    calyx
    (pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
    corolla
    The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
    inflorescence
    Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
    acuminate
    Narrowing gradually to a point.
    apex
    (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
    calyx
    (pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
    cordate
    Heart-shaped (i.e. with two equal lobes at the base).
    glabrous
    Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
    ovate
    Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
    panicle
    A much-branched inflorescence. paniculate Having the form of a panicle.
    stellate
    Star-shaped.
    tomentum
    Dense layer of soft hairs. tomentose With tomentum.

    References

    There are no active references in this article.

    Credits

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

    Recommended citation
    'Reevesia pubescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/reevesia/reevesia-pubescens/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

    An evergreen tree up to 60 ft high, or a shrub sometimes no more than 6 ft high; stems and leaves densely coated when young with a bronzy pink indu­mentum. Leaves leathery, dark green, very variable in shape and size, oblong, ovate, or elliptic, usually acuminate at the apex, rounded to cordate at the base, 3 to 6 in. long, 112 to 234 in. wide, occasionally longer and mote slender, glabrous above when mature, coated beneath with a buff-coloured tomentum of stellate hairs; petioles stellate-downy, up to 138 in. long. Inflorescence a terminal many-flowered panicle, borne in summer. Flowers creamy white (sometimes rose-coloured, yellow, or dull crimson on plants seen by Forrest in Yunnan). Calyx about 316 in. long. Corolla about 12 in. wide; petals spreading-erect, 12 in. long, including the claw, which is contained in the calyx. Staminal column 34 to 138 in. long. Capsules pear-shaped, 138 in. long, 1 in. wide. Bot. Mag., t. 9258.

    Native of the E. Himalaya, upper Burma, S.W. and W. China, and Siam; described from the Sikkim Himalaya in 1874, but probably not introduced until Wilson sent seeds from W. Szechwan, where the species is at the northern extremity of its range. The seeds were collected in 1910 from a tree – the only one seen – growing by a stream on the descent from the Panlan-shan, and were distributed by the Arnold Arboretum. Among the gardeners who received seeds was J. C. Williams of Caerhays, and it was he who provided the flowering and fruiting material depicted in the Botanical Magazine in 1929; the species had first flowered at Caerhays five years previously. R. pubescens was collected by Forrest on many occasions in Yunnan.

    So far as is known, only one mature plant of R. pubescens grows in the open in the British Isles and that is the remarkable specimen at Trewithen in Cornwall, which measures 38 × 434 + 334 ft (1971). The large tree at Caerhays was killed in the winter of 1962–3. R. pubescens received an Award of Merit when shown by Sir Henry Price, Wakehurst Place, Sussex, on July 27, 1954. The original plant there no longer exists, but there is still a small example in the Heath garden there.

    R. pubescens should survive most winters in a sunny, sheltered place in southern England, but is unlikely to really thrive except in the mildest parts. It deserves to be grown more frequently for the vivid colouring of its young foliage and for its interesting flowers.

    From the Supplement (Vol. V)

    The specimen at Trewithen, Cornwall, measures 50 × 514 ft (1979). The specimen at Wakehurst Place, Sussex, in the Heath Garden, survived the cold winter of 1984–5 without damage and flowered well the following summer.