Prinsepia

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Prinsepia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prinsepia/). Accessed 2025-05-25.

Family

Rosaceae

Species in genus

Glossary

alternate: Attached singly along the axis not in pairs or whorls.
axillary: Situated in an axil.
drupe: A fleshy dehiscent or indehiscent fruit with one to several seeds each enclosed in a hard endocarp (the stone).

References

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Prinsepia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prinsepia/). Accessed 2025-05-25.

Racemes of small, white, fragrant flowers borne on the arching branches of Prinsepia utilis at White House Farm, Kent, UK. 9 March 2024. Image Jack Aldridge.

A genus of three or four species of deciduous shrubs; the shoots have axillary spines and the pith is lamellate, i.e., reduced to thin transverse disks; leaves alternate; fruit a drupe. It is closely akin to Prunus, which is easily distinguished by its continuous pith. Named after James Prinsep (1800–1840), one-time Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, a meteorologist and a friend of Royle, the author of the name.

Prinsepia uniflora at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. September 2012. Image John Anderson.

Prinsepia sinensis.

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