Kolkwitzia
| Beauty bush | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Caprifoliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Linnaeoideae |
| Genus: | Kolkwitzia Graebn. (1901) |
| Species: | K. amabilis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Kolkwitzia amabilis Graebn. (1901)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Kolkwitzia amabilis /kɒlˈkwɪtsiə əˈmæbɪlɪs/,[2] commonly known as beauty bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. It is the sole species in genus Kolkwitzia.[1] It is a deciduous shrub grown as an ornamental plant. In China, where it originated, the plant is called wèi shí [3] (蝟实).[4]
Description
[edit]
The plant is an arching, spreading shrub, with light brown flaky bark and graceful arching branches, which can grow higher than 8 ft (2.4 m) tall. It is usually as wide as it is tall. The plant blooms in late spring. Its light pink flowers, dark pink in the bud, are about one-inch long and bell-shaped ("tubular campanulate"); they grow in pairs, as with all Caprifoliaceae, and form showy, numerous sprays along ripened wood. Its leaves are opposite, simple, and ovate, from 0.5 to 3 in (1.3 to 7.6 cm) long, entire or with a few sparse shallow teeth. Its fruit is a hairy, ovoid capsule approximately 0.25 in (0.6 cm) inches long.[citation needed]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was first described by Paul Graebner and placed in the new genus Kolkwitzia, whose name honours Richard Kolkwitz, a professor of botany in Berlin.[5] The specific epithet amabilis means "lovely".[6]
History
[edit]The beauty bush originates in Central China, where it has been discovered for western science twice; once by the Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Giraldi in Shaanxi, and then in western Hubei province by the British explorer and plant collector E.H. Wilson.[7] Wilson sent plant material to his sponsors Veitch Nurseries in Exeter in 1901, where the shrub flowered for the first time in 1910.[8] The shrub became very popular in the eastern United States following World War I – almost a defining shrub in American gardens made between the World Wars. It is very rare and threatened in the wild.
Cultivation
[edit]Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use. The cultivar 'Pink Cloud' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[9] [10]
Pruning
[edit]Opinions differ concerning how much pruning the shrub needs. The University of Missouri Horticulture Department suggests minimal intervention, so long as the plant has enough room to develop, up to a maximum height of 15 ft (4.6 m) and a potential "spread" of 8 ft (2.4 m).[11] Others suggest more active intervention to encourage development of new flowering branches and buds, with decisive pruning immediately after flowering.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Kolkwitzia amabilis Graebn. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
- ^ "Wei Shi Shu Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock".
- ^ "4. KOLKWITZIA Graebner, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 29: 593. 1901" (PDF). Harvard University Herbaria.
- ^ Albert, Render (1917). L.H. Bailey (ed.). The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd. pp. 1757.
Kolkwitzia amabilis.
- ^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
- ^ St Andrews Botanical Garden: Kolkwitzia amabilis Archived 2008-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Alice M. Coats, Garden Shrubs and Their Histories (1964) 1992, s.v. "Kolkwitzia"
- ^ "'Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Pink Cloud'". www.rhs.org. RHS. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 57. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ Relf, Diane; Appleton, Bonnie Lee (2000). "Selecting Landscape Plants: Deciduous Shrubs". Department of Horticulture, University of Missouri. hdl:10919/23460.
- ^ "Pruning Kolkwitzia amabilis - How/when to prune Beauty Bush". 23 June 2020.
External links
[edit]
- Qiner Yang and Sven Landrein, "Kolkwitzia amabilis Graebner, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 29: 593. 1901", Flora of China