Philadelphus californicus Benth.

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Philadelphus californicus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-californicus/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Synonyms

  • P. lewisii var. parvifolius Torr.
  • P. lewisii var. californicus (Benth.) Gray
  • P. lewisii subsp californicus (Benth.) Munz

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
axillary
Situated in an axil.
bud
Immature shoot protected by scales that develops into leaves and/or flowers.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
inflorescence
Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
panicle
A much-branched inflorescence. paniculate Having the form of a panicle.
raceme
Unbranched inflorescence with flowers produced laterally usually with a pedicel. racemose In form of raceme.
simple
(of a leaf) Unlobed or undivided.
variety
(var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Philadelphus californicus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-californicus/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

An elegant, pendulous-branched shrub up to 10 ft high, the young shoots glabrous, the year-old bark peeling. Leaves three-nerved, ovate, 112 to 3 in. long, 34 to 2 in. wide, shortly and broadly toothed, or nearly entire (especially on the flowering twigs), either glabrous or slightly downy beneath. Flowers 1 in. or less wide, pure white, slightly fragrant, produced numerously in panicles at the end of the shoot, often over twenty flowers in each. Petals oblong-obovate; calyx glabrous outside the lobes, downy on the margins, and near the apex inside; styles united, stigmas separated.

Native of California. Although much confused with P. lewisii, and sometimes regarded as a variety of it, this is really one of the most distinct of American species. On weak shoots its inflorescence may be only a simple raceme, but normally it is composed of several racemes, thus forming a true panicle. Flowers small and crowded. The base of the leaf-stalk does not hide the axillary bud, as it does in P. lewisii.