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Philadelphus pubescens Loisel.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Philadelphus pubescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-pubescens/). Accessed 2026-01-20.

Family

  • Hydrangeaceae

Genus

Synonyms

  • Philadelphus latifolius Schrad.
  • Philadelphus verrucosus Schrad.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
raceme
Unbranched inflorescence with flowers produced laterally usually with a pedicel. racemose In form of raceme.

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 pubescens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/philadelphus/philadelphus-pubescens/). Accessed 2026-01-20.

Editorial Note

Bean’s reason for giving the synonym Philadelphus grandiflorus var. floribundus Gray is unclear, and may be an error.  Philadelphus grandiflorus var. floribundus (Schrad. ex DC.) Torr. & A.Gray is considered synonymous with Philadelphus inodorus L. (Bean also cites Philadelphus grandiflorus Hort., in part, not Willd.) A full, revised treatment of Philadelphus will be provided when funding is available. If you would like to sponsor the account of the genus please write to editor@treesandshrubsonline.org

A robust shrub 10 to 20 ft high, as much or more in diameter; young shoots glabrous, green; the year-old shoots grey, not peeling. Leaves of the barren shoots oval or ovate, broadly tapered or rounded at the base, pointed, sparsely and irregularly toothed, 2 to 5 in. long, about half as wide, dull and almost glabrous above, downy beneath; with three or five prominent veins. Leaves of the flowering twigs smaller. Flowers pure white, 13⁄4 in. wide, not much scented; produced in June at the end, and in the uppermost leaf-axils of lateral twigs, usually seven or nine each. Calyx-lobes 2⁄5 in. long, lanceolate, and, like the individual flower-stalks, downy.

Native of the S.E. United States; introduced early last century. It is a fine free-flowering shrub, not uncommon in gardens, distinguished chiefly by the year-old bark not peeling, the numerous flowers in each raceme, and the downy calyx. One of the finest and noblest of mock oranges.

P intectus Beadle

Synonyms
P. pubescens var. intectus (Beadle) A. H. Moore
P. latifolius verrucosus Hort

This philadelphus resembles P. pubescens in size, bark, foliage, and inflorescence, and is usually considered to be a variety of it, differing in the glabrous leaf-undersides, pedicels, and calyx-tube, but Dr Hu considers it to be a distinct species, more closely allied to P. lewisii than to P. pubescens. It is reported from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Some of the tall-growing mock oranges found in older gardens may belong here rather than to P. pubescens.

P × nivalis Jacques

Synonyms
P. verrucosus Hort., not Schrad

A hybrid of P. pubescens, differing from it chiefly in the peeling second-year bark. The other parent is thought to be P. coronarius, from which it differs in having the leaves sparsely toothed or almost entire, as in P. pubescens and in the usually hairy calyx. Such plants have been in cultivation since the middle of the last century and were grown as P. verrucosus and perhaps under other names. In P. × nivalis ‘Plenus’ the flowers are double.

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