Ehretia dicksonii
Credits
New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.
Recommended citation
'Ehretia dicksonii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
A native of China, Formosa, etc., introduced by E. H. Wilson. It is a tree 30 to 35 ft high with slightly downy young shoots. Leaves elliptic, 4 to 8 in. long, rounded varying to slightly cordate or tapered at the base, shortly pointed, more or less downy on both surfaces. Flowers open in May and June in flattish panicles 2 to 4 in. long and broad; corolla white, 2⁄5 in. wide. Fruit subglobose, 1⁄2 in. wide, greenish yellow. It is over 20 ft high in Messrs Hillier’s nursery at Winchester on chalky soil and grows well at Kew. It is apt to suffer in high winds, but otherwise is hardy. It was at one time confused with the Himalayan E. macrophylla Wall.
specimens: Kew, by King William’s Temple, pl. 1927–8, 31 × 41⁄2 ft and 33 × 31⁄2 ft (1981); Westonbirt, Glos., 35 × 21⁄4 ft (1980); Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Eire, 56 × 31⁄2 ft (1985).
The West Hill nursery of Messrs Hillier no longer exists, nor does the specimen mentioned. This nursery, being on chalk, was of value as a proving ground for the lime-tolerance of new introductions. For an interesting account of it in earlier years, see Gard. Chron., 1914 ii, p. 150.
