Sarcococca ruscifolia
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Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Sarcococca ruscifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
An evergreen shrub, 2 to 4 ft high; stems erect, branching towards the top, minutely downy when young. Leaves 1 to 21⁄2 in. long, half as wide; ovate, rounded and triple-veined at the base, long and finely pointed, quite glabrous, and of a very dark lustrous green above, paler beneath; stalk 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 in. long. Flowers milk-white, fragrant, produced during the winter months in the axils of the terminal leaves. Several flowers appear in each cluster, which has a short stalk 1⁄3 in. or less long. Sepals four to six, about 1⁄4 in. long; stamens (of the male flowers) 1⁄4 in. long. Fruit roundish, 1⁄4 in. wide, crimson; seeds black. Bot. Mag., t. 9045.
Native of central and western China; discovered by Henry near Ichang in 1887, and introduced from the same neighbourhood by Wilson for Messrs Veitch in 1901. Also introduced by Wilson is a form with narrower leaves up to 5⁄8 in. wide, described as var. chinensis (Franch.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson; this is commoner in western China than the typical form and also more frequent in cultivation and more vigorous, but judging from wild specimens the two states are linked by intermediates, and the variety has now reduced to synonymy with the species.
Although the flowers possess only a very modest beauty, S. ruscifolia’s neat habit and dark, polished leaves render it decidedly pleasing; the cut stems are useful to the flower-arranger, as they last three weeks in water.