Pyrenaria Blume

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Pyrenaria' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pyrenaria/). Accessed 2025-04-28.

Family

Theaceae

Synonyms

Tutcheria Dunn

Species in genus

Pyrenaria spectabilis

Glossary

apex: (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
lanceolate: Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
synonym: (syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

References

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Credits

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Pyrenaria' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pyrenaria/). Accessed 2025-04-28.

The Belgian dendrologist Jan De Langhe maintains records on the trees he sees on his travels round Europe; a database he generously made freely available to us for our work on New Trees . He also documents the foliage, by the simple device of scanning a shoot, as here with Pyrenaria spectabilis from Ghent University Botanical Garden. Image © Jan De Langhe.

Pyrenaria comprises about 30 species in eastern and southeastern Asia. They are evergreen trees or shrubs with alternate, spirally arranged leaves. The leaves are leathery or papery, petiolate and with serrate margins. The flowers are hermaphrodite, axillary and solitary or sometimes in clusters of two to three. They are subtended by two bracteoles, and have five to six unequal sepals, persistent or caducous, five to six petals (rarely 12), white or rarely pale yellow, slightly fused at the base, and numerous stamens, in three to six whorls. The fruit is either a capsule, which splits from the base into three to five (to six) segments, or a fleshy drupe; the seeds are wingless (Keng 1980, Stevens et al. 2004, Ming & Bartholomew 2007).

In so far as it is known in horticulture (which is hardly at all), Pyrenaria is usually described under the synonym Tutcheria (Chittenden 1951, Huxley et al. 1992 – identical text!, Hudson 2004). It is very closely related to Camellia, differing in that the capsules of Camellia dehisce from the apex, whereas in Pyrenaria they dehisce from the base or not at all; also in that the seeds are somewhat rounded in Camellia, but longitudinally compresssed in Pyrenaria. They are handsome evergreens, with dense dark green foliage, but probably require mild moist conditions to thrive. Propagation and cultivation requirements are as for Camellia.

In addition to P. spectabilis, described below, P. hirta (Hand.-Mazz.) H. Keng is being grown in a few Cornish gardens, but has yet to flower in cultivation (T. Hudson, pers. comm. 2005). It has lanceolate, glossy dark green leaves, and should produce its 4 cm-wide flowers in summer.