Caragana sinica

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Caragana sinica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/caragana/caragana-sinica/). Accessed 2024-11-03.

Synonyms

  • Robinia sinica Buc'hoz
  • C. chamlagu Lam.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
lustrous
Smooth and shiny.

References

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Caragana sinica' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/caragana/caragana-sinica/). Accessed 2024-11-03.

A deciduous shrub up to 5 ft high, with angular branches, and of rounded, bushy habit. Leaves composed of two unequal pairs of leaflets, the terminal pair the larger; the common stalk is sharp-tipped, and remains after the leaflets have fallen, but it does not develop into the formidable spine seen in C. brevispina or gerardiana; stipules 14 to 13 in. long, becoming stiff spines. Leaflets very variable in size; in young plants as much as 112 in. long and 34 in. wide, usually obovate, but on old flowering shoots 14 to 34 in. long; glabrous and lustrous, rounded at the apex. Flower 114 in. long, solitary on its slender stalk 12 to 34 in. long, reddish yellow. Calyx bell-shaped, nearly 12 in. long, with five short, triangular teeth. Pod 112 in. long, slender, glabrous.

Native of N. China; introduced in 1773. It is distinct for its large, dark green, glossy, membranous leaflets, larger in a young state than those of any other cultivated caragana. The bruised bark smells like liquorice. Often grafted on standards of C. arborescens, it makes a handsome bushy-topped small tree. Flowers in May and June.