Maddenia wilsonii Koehne

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Maddenia wilsonii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/maddenia/maddenia-wilsonii/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Maddenia wilsonii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/maddenia/maddenia-wilsonii/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Shrub or tree 3–5 m. Branchlets initially yellowish brown and densely tomentose; later purplish brown, glabrous and lustrous. Winter buds purple-brown, tomentose, scales 1.5 × 0.8 cm long. Leaves 3.5–12 × 1.8–6 cm, oblong to oblanceolate, upper surface greenish brown and largely glabrous, lower surface pale green to brown with dense yellowish brown or white pubescence, 15–20 secondary veins on each side of the midrib, margins irregularly serrate or double-serrate, apex acute; petiole 0.2–0.7 cm long, yellowish brown-villous; stipules lanceolate, membranous and sparsely pubescent. Racemes 3–4 cm long with oblong, submembranous bracts. Hermaphrodite flowers 0.2–0.4 cm diameter, perianth segments triangular-ovate, caducous, green (lacking the red tinge found in M. hypoleuca), stamens 30–40. Drupe black, ovoid, ~0.8 cm diameter. Flowering April to June, fruiting June (China). Gu et al. 2003. Distribution CHINA: southern Gansu, Guizhou, western Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan. Habitat Scrub and riverbanks between 1500 and 3600 m asl. USDA Hardiness Zone 7. Conservation status Not evaluated. Illustration NT470.

Maddenia wilsonii has largely slipped under the horticultural radar since it was introduced from western Hupei in 1908 by its eponymous discoverer (under the number Wilson 909), escaping even Krüssmann’s notice and attracting only a brief entry in the Hillier Manual (Hillier & Coombes 2002). During this time it has skulked in the collections of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, from which source all stock in cultivation seems ultimately to derive. At the Hillier Gardens it has formed a single-stemmed small tree of about 5 m. The deeply corrugated, long leaves are quite distinctive.