Neolitsea sericea (Bl.) Koidz.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Neolitsea sericea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/neolitsea/neolitsea-sericea/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Genus

Neolitsea

Synonyms

Laurus sericea Bl.
Litsea glauca Sieb.
Neolitsea glauca (Sieb.) Koidz.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

acuminate: Narrowing gradually to a point.
acute: Sharply pointed.
apex: (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
axillary: Situated in an axil.
cuneate: Wedge-shaped.
androdioecious: With only male or only hermaphrodite flowers on individual plants.
ellipsoid: An elliptic solid.
glabrous: Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous: Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).

References

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Neolitsea sericea' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/neolitsea/neolitsea-sericea/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Neolitsea sericea flowers in autumn.

A small evergreen dioecious tree with silky young stems. Leaves leathery, three-veined from near the base, oblong-elliptic or broadest slightly below the middle, 3 to 6 in. long, 11⁄4 to 23⁄4 in. wide, acute to acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, young leaves covered with silky, golden-brown hairs, when mature the upper side glabrous, the lower one glaucous and usually with traces of the juvenile hairs; petioles about 1 in. long. Flowers produced in autumn in axillary clusters. Fruits red, ellipsoid, about 1⁄2 in. long, only borne on female plants.

Native of Japan, Korea (Cheju Do Island), and China; date of introduction uncertain. It is quite a handsome evergreen with remarkable young foliage, very uncommon but apparently hardy.

A plant at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, identified as N. sericea, but perhaps wrongly, bore black fruits and had the undersurface of the year-old leaves still closely covered with a coating of silky, silvery or pale bronze hairs and appearing as if burnished. The young foliage was hairy as in N. sericea and was not produced until quite late in the summer. This plant died in 1975.

Neolitsea sericea HONX 108 at Kew, with bronze new growths on 26th June 2022. Image Owen Johnson.

Neolitsea sericea at Trengwainton, Cornwall, on 7th May 2014. At this stage of growth the silky-white new leaves can be mistaken for flowers. Image Owen Johnson.

Neolitsea sericea 9 m tall at Trengwainton, Cornwall, UK; May 2014. Image Owen Johnson.

Young leaves of Neolitsea sericea; Westonbirt National Arboretum, UK, 6th July 2014. Image Owen Johnson.

A well-formed young tree of Neolitsea sericea at Penrhyn Castle, north Wales; 12th May 2016. Image Owen Johnson.

The silky, bronze hairs on the leaf underside regularly persist into late summer in this example of Japanese provenance Neolitsea sericea from W&H 880 (Howick Hall, Northumberland, UK; 18th August 2022). Image Julian Sutton.

A beautiful bushy specimen of Neolitsea sericea from W&H 880 thrives on a rather dry, shady bank at Howick Hall, Northumberland, UK. In late summer the whole plant gives off a metallic shimmer (18th August 2022). Image Julian Sutton.

Neolitsea sericea from W&H 880: upper and lower leaf surfaces. Petioles are longer than those of N. aciculata (Howick Hall, Northumberland, UK; 18th August 2022). Image Julian Sutton.

Neolitsea sericea just before bud-break (RBG Kew, April 2010). Image John Grimshaw.

Neolitsea sericea: winter foliage and buds (The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum, Devon, UK; 5 February 2021). Image Julian Sutton.

A variegated Neolitsea sericea grown at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania (October 2023). Image Gary Keim.