Rhaphiolepis × delacourii André

An evergreen shrub of free, bushy growth, of rounded well-furnished habit probably 6 to 8 ft high ultimately; young shoots at first downy, soon becoming glabrous. Leaves obovate, toothed at the terminal half, wedge-shaped at the base, tapered more abruptly to the blunt or rounded apex, 11⁄2 to 31⁄2 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide, of leathery texture, quite glabrous; stalk 1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in. long. Flowers borne in erect terminal panicles 3 or 4 in. high, of pyramidal shape; each flower is 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. wide, the five obovate petals of a lovely rosy pink; flower-stalks downy; calyx with five awl-shaped downy lobes.

A hybrid between R. umbellata and R. indica, raised by Delacour, gardener at the Villa Allerton, Cannes, towards the end of last century. It was named and figured in the Revue Horticole, 1900, p. 698. A number of forms varying in leaf and colour of flower were raised, the one selected having ‘corolles entièrement rosées, du ton le plus frais et le plus charmant, rappelant le rose de Chine’. I first saw it in flower in Mr Chenault’s garden at Orleans in 1913 and obtained it for the Kew collection. It is a very charming evergreen and judging by its behaviour during the trying winter of 1928–9 it is hardy enough for most parts of the country. Spring would appear to be its normal flowering season, but it is curiously variable in that respect. Lady Moore records it as being ‘covered with fully open flowers’ at Glasnevin on January 14, 1922, and blossom may usually be seen some time in late summer and autumn. It transplants badly and it is advisable for it to be pot-grown until given a permanent place. R. umbellata differs from it in its stiffer leaves, sturdier growths, and white flowers; R. indica by its narrowly lanceolate leaves.