Decaisnea fargesii Franch.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Decaisnea fargesii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/decaisnea/decaisnea-fargesii/). Accessed 2023-12-02.

Genus

Decaisnea

Infraspecifics

D insignis

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

entire: With an unbroken margin.
glabrous: Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous: Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
lanceolate: Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
ovate: Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
panicle: A much-branched inflorescence. paniculate Having the form of a panicle.
imparipinnate: Odd-pinnate; (of a compound leaf) with a central rachis and an uneven number of leaflets due to the presence of a terminal leaflet. (Cf. paripinnate.)

References

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Decaisnea fargesii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/decaisnea/decaisnea-fargesii/). Accessed 2023-12-02.

Decaisnea fargesii comes into its own in the autumn, when the leaves turn golden yellow and contrast with the metallic blue fruits. Cluny House Gardens, Perthshire, UK; 24th October 2020. Image Tom Christian.

A deciduous shrub reported to attain 15 ft in the wild state, but already higher in cultivation, consisting of a cluster of erect stems containing abundant pith and distinct in winter for their large, pointed buds; young shoots glabrous, thick. Leaves pinnate, from 2 to 3 ft long, consisting of from 61⁄2 to 121⁄2 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets ovate, slender-pointed, entire, 3 to 6 in. long, glaucous beneath, glabrous or nearly so; main-stalk often purplish brown. Flowers produced in a loose drooping panicle 12 to 18 in. long terminating the young growths. Each flower is borne on a slender stalk 3⁄4 in. long, the six sepals (petals absent) being erect, narrow lanceolate, finely pointed, 1 to 11⁄4 in. long; yellowish green, the upper half curving outwards. Fruit dull blue, cylindrical, 3 to 4 in. long, 3⁄4 in. wide, with numerous tiny warts on the surface. Bot. Mag, t. 7848.

This interesting and striking shrub is a native of the mountains of W. China, where it was collected and sent to France by the missionary, Père Farges, in 1895. Two years later it was sent by Maurice de Vilmorin to Kew, where it has proved quite hardy, and where it flowers and produces fruit regularly, but is subject to injury by late spring frosts. It is a handsome foliage plant. It likes a rich loamy soil, and is propagated by seeds.

Decaisnea fargesii is a handsome foliage shrub, seen to best effect in mixed plantings like this one at Cluny House Gardens, Perthshire, UK; 24th October 2020. Image Tom Christian.

The first flush of growth in the spring can be another point of interest in Decaisnea fargesii. Baravalla, Argyll, UK. 11 May 2022. Image Tom Christian.

Handsome foliage on Decaisnea fargesii at Arboretum Het Leen Eeklo, Belgium (13 June 2013). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Small leaf and full-grown leaflets on Decaisnea fargesii (Arboretum Het Leen Eeklo, Belgium – 13 June 2013). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Thick glabrous shoot and developing buds on Decaisnea fargesii (Arboretum Het Leen Eeklo, Belgium – 13 June 2013). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Minute pubescence scattered allover the leaflet lower surface of Decaisnea fargesii (Arboretum Het Leen Eeklo, Belgium – 13 June 2013). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Decaisnea fargesii fruits hidden among the foliage on a plant at Cluny House Gardens, Perthshire, UK; 24th October 2020. Image Tom Christian.

A good fist of 'dead man's fingers' on Decaisnea fargesii (Cherry Tree Arboretum, Shropshire, October 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Inflorescence on Decaisnea fargesii at Mill House Arboretum, Shropshire, UK. 1 June 2022. Image Tom Christian.

More often than not Decaisnea fargesii is a rather leggy shrub. Mill House Arboretum, Shropshire, UK. 1 June 2022. Image Tom Christian.

Decaisnea fargesii breaking bud at Mill House Arboretum, Shropshire, UK. 27 March 2023. Image Tom Christian.

D insignis (Griff.) Hook. f. & Thoms

In foliage and flower this species resembles the preceding but is quite distinct in its golden-yellow fruits. Native of the Himalaya and Yunnan. Probably not hardy. Bot. Mag., t. 6731.