Schisandra henryi
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Schisandra henryi' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Editorial Note
Bean originally discussed Schisandra glaucescens and S. pubescens beneath his account of S. henryi (Bean 1981). We have moved Bean’s texts for these species, unaltered, into their own articles pending a full revision of the genus. If you would like to sponsor a revision of Schisandra please contact the editors.
TC, December 2024.
A deciduous, glabrous climbing shrub with twining stems, triangular when young, each angle winged. Leaves leathery, shining, of variable shape, elliptical, ovate or cordate, pointed or rounded at the apex and sparsely toothed, 3 to 4 in. long; stalk 1 to 2 in. long. Flowers 1⁄2 in. across, unisexual, white, borne on a stout stalk 2 in. long. The column on which the carpels are borne elongates after the flowers are faded and becomes fleshy, and 2 to 3 in. long; on this the mucilaginous carpels are borne. They are eaten by the Chinese.
Introduced by Wilson for Messrs Veitch about 1900, from W. Hupeh and Szechwan, but discovered by Henry long previously. It is easily distinguished from S. chinensis by the lustrous, thicker leaves and triangular branchlets: Quite hardy at Kew.