Firmiana simplex (L.) W. F. Wight

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Firmiana simplex' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/firmiana/firmiana-simplex/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Synonyms

  • Hibiscus simplex L.
  • Sterculia platanifolia L.f.
  • Firmiana platanifolia (L.f.) Marsigli

Other taxa in genus

    Glossary

    glabrous
    Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
    panicle
    A much-branched inflorescence. paniculate Having the form of a panicle.
    stellate
    Star-shaped.

    References

    There are no active references in this article.

    Credits

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

    Recommended citation
    'Firmiana simplex' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/firmiana/firmiana-simplex/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

    A tree up to 60 ft high, with noble foliage and a trunk smooth even in age. Leaves variable in size, but averaging 6 to 8 in. long and as much or more wide; on vigorous young plants they are over 1 ft long. Ordinarily, the leaves have three rather shallow, pointed lobes towards the end, but often they are five-lobed, with the general outline of a maple-leaf, the base heart-shaped; they are either furnished with stellate down beneath, especially in the vein-axils, or are glabrous. The leaf-stalk is two-thirds to quite the length of the blade. Flowers small, yellow, produced on a branching panicle as much as 18 in. long, and 9 in. wide. For fruits see introduction above.

    Native of S. China, Formosa, and the Ryukyus, but introduced in 1757 from Japan, where it is much cultivated. It was long treated as a greenhouse plant, and is, indeed, better suited in Cornwall and such-like localities than in the London districts, where, to be safe, it needs wall protection. Its beauty, however, is only fully shown in a spot where it can develop freely on all sides. It is very fine on the Riviera, especially in the Casino Gardens at Monte Carlo.