Philadelphus coronarius
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Philadelphus coronarius' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Mock Orange
Synonyms
- Philadelphus pallidus Hayek ex C.K.Schneid.
- Philadelphus caucasicus Koehne
- Philadelphus zeyheri Schrad.
- P. coronarius var. zeyheri (Schrad.) Hartw. & Ruempl.
Other taxa in genus
- Philadelphus delavayi
- Philadelphus × falconeri
- Philadelphus hirsutus
- Philadelphus incanus
- Philadelphus inodorus
- Philadelphus lewisii
- Philadelphus mexicanus
- Philadelphus microphyllus
- Philadelphus pekinensis
- Philadelphus pubescens
- Philadelphus purpurascens
- Philadelphus satsumi
- Philadelphus schrenkii
- Philadelphus sericanthus
- Philadelphus subcanus
- Philadelphus: The Hybrids
- Philadelphus tomentosus
Editorial Note
Philadelphus zeyheri Schrad., discussed separately by Bean, has been reduced to synonymy with this species, as has P. caucasicus Koehne (discussed rather sceptically by Clarke in the Supplement (1988) – see below). We reproduce below Bean’s individual entries, pending a fuller, revised treatment, which will be provided when funding is available. If you would like to sponsor the account of this genus please write to editor@treesandshrubsonline.org
A shrub up to 12 ft high, with erect stems, the year-old bark brown and peeling; young shoots ribbed. Leaves ovate to oval-lanceolate, broadly wedge-shaped or nearly rounded at the base, distantly toothed, 11⁄2 to 4 in. long, 5⁄8 to 2 in. wide; glabrous except for a few hairs on one or both surfaces and on the leaf-stalk, which is 1⁄6 to 1⁄3 in. long. Flowers yellowish white, heavily scented, about 1 in. across, produced in terminal racemes of five to nine blossoms. Petals oval, 3⁄8 in. wide; calyx-lobes downy at the margins, the tube and flower-stalk either glabrous or slightly downy; styles separated at the upper third.
Native of S.E. Europe and Asia Minor; cultivated in Britain since the 16th century, probably before. It flowers in early June. This is the best-known species of mock orange in gardens, but is not in the first rank. The fragrance of its flowers is pleasing out-of-doors, but may become too insistent if the plants are numerous or near sitting-room windows. The odour is too strong for the flowers to be enjoyed in a cut state indoors. Over three hundred years ago Gerard, the herbalist, wrote: ‘They have a pleasant sweete smell, but in my judgment troubling and molesting the head in very strange manner. I once gathered the flowers and laid them in my chamber window, which smelled more strongly after they had lain together a few howers, but with such a pontick and unacquainted savor that they awaked me from sleepe, so that I could not take rest till I had cast them out of my chamber.’
[From the Supplement (Vol. V):
Hu accepts P. caucasicus Koehne as a species distinct from P. coronarius, but it is questionable whether it deserves this rank; indeed it is not clear what constant character there is to separate it from the variable P. coronarius. This Caucasian and Armenian philadelphus is in cultivation from a collection by Roy Lancaster in 1979 above Novy Afon on the northern Black Sea coast. According to Hu, P. coronarius ‘Aureus’ belongs to P. caucasicus on the grounds that it differs in the key-character of a pubescent floral disk against glabrous in P. coronarius.
Philadelphus zeyheri Schrad.
A deciduous shrub of very vigorous spreading habit up to 8 ft high, considerably more in width; bark deep brown, slightly peeling; young shoots glabrous. Leaves broadly ovate to lanceolate, tapered at the base, slender-pointed, varying from coarsely toothed to nearly entire, 21⁄2 to 4 in. long, 3⁄4 to 2 in. wide, glabrous above, downy beneath along each side of the midrib and chief veins, with occasional hairs between. Flowers pure white, 11⁄2 to 13⁄4 in. across, produced during June in a terminal corymb of three to seven blossoms (sometimes solitary). Petals oval; style distinctly longer than the stamens; calyx glabrous, with slender lobes 1⁄2 in. long.
This philadelphus, of unrecorded origin, was in cultivation early in the 19th century and reputed to have come from N. America. It was compared by de Candolle to P. coronarius, differing in its leaves being rounded at the base and in its fewer, larger and scentless flowers. It is treated by Dr Hu as a variety of P. coronarius, but some authorities consider it to be a hybrid between that species and P. inodorus var. grandiflorus. It is very distinct in its comparatively low, spreading habit, but its flowers are scentless, it blossoms poorly and is of inferior quality. The young shoots are apt to be killed back in winter, which may be due to their sappy vigour.
'Aureus' ('Foliis Aureis')
Leaves bright yellow, and very effective in spring, becoming duller after midsummer.
'Nanus' ('Duplex')
This ‘is of humble growth, seldom rising above three feet high; the leaves are shorter… and approach near to an oval form; they are but little indented on their edges. The flowers come out singly from the side of the branches, and have a double or treble row of petals… this sort flowers very rarely, so is not much esteemed’ (Miller, Gard. Dict., ed. 1768). In the earlier editions of his Dictionary, Miller also mentioned a form of normal growth which produced a mixture of single and double flowers, but mostly single. ‘Deutziiflorus’, of more recent origin, is also a double-flowered variety of dwarf habit, but it flowers more freely.P 'Salicifolius'
A plant of uncertain status, usually considered as a variant of P. coronarius, distinct in its leaves, which are 2 to 4 in. long, {1/2} to {3/4} in. wide, sparsely toothed. Dr Hu points out that its flowers are abnormal but show that the plant does not belong to P. coronarius.' Variegatus'
Leaves with an irregular border of creamy white.
