Polyspora hainanensis
Credits
Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton
Recommended citation
'Polyspora hainanensis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Synonyms
- Gordonia hainanensis Hung T. Chang
Other taxa in genus
Tree to 12 m. Branchlets slender and glabrous. Leaves leathery, 8–13 × 2–3 cm, narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, upper surface dark green, shiny and glabrous, lower surface pale green and glabrous, secondary veins obscure, margins undulate and serrate, apex bluntly acute; petiole 0.5–1 cm long, glabrous. Flowers axillary and solitary, ~4 cm diameter; pedicel ~0.5 cm long, pubescent. Bracteoles three, caducous, sepals five, orbicular to ovate, petals five, white, 2–2.5 cm long, stamens 8–10, ovary tomentose. Capsule oblong to cylindrical, 1.5–2.5 cm long, central column 1.5–1.8 cm long; seeds with wing to 1 cm long. Flowering November to December, fruiting October (China). Ming & Bartholomew 2007. Distribution CHINA: Hainan. Habitat Forests between 300 and 1500 m asl. USDA Hardiness Zone 9. Conservation status Not evaluated. Illustration NT648.
Polyspora hainanensis is a very rare plant in cultivation, specimens having been traced only at Tregrehan and at Eastwoodhill Arboretum in New Zealand. At Tregrehan a specimen derived from the stock grown in New Zealand is forming a vigorous bushy tree, densely furnished with glossy evergreen leaves, but has not yet flowered.