Pertya sinensis Oliver

A deciduous bush 4 to 6 ft high, with glabrous, slender, ribbed branches. Leaves alternate on the shoots of the year, ovate-lanceolate, long and taper-pointed, 2 to 3 in. long, 3⁄4 to 1 in. wide, deep green, usually with one to three sharp teeth on each margin, but sometimes not toothed. On the year-old branches they are produced four to six together in rosette-like clusters from each joint, and are only half or less than half the size of the others, and without teeth. The leaves are either glabrous or have some small bristles on the midrib; stalks 1⁄8 in. or less long. Flower-heads pinkish purple, 1⁄2 in. across, surrounded by a series of oval, membranous, overlapping bracts; about a dozen are produced from the centre of each leaf cluster on the year-old shoots, each on a slender, slightly bristly stalk about 1⁄4 in. or more long. It flowers in June and July.

Native of Hupeh, China; discovered by Henry in 1889, and introduced by Wilson in 1901 for Messrs Veitch. It is a neat shrub, but perhaps of more botanical than garden interest. The leaves have an intense, quassia-like bitterness. The chief interest of this shrub is in its being an addition to the few shrubby composites that are hardy in cultivation.