Schisandra propinqua
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Schisandra propinqua' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Kadsura propinqua Wall.
- Sphaerostema propinquum (Wall.) Bl.
A tall evergreen climber with glabrous, angled young stems. Leaves rather thin, ovate-lanceolate, narrowly oblong-ovate or almost elliptic, 2 to 5 in. long, 3⁄4 to 2 in. wide, rounded or broad-cuneate at the base, narrowed at the apex, glabrous, finely toothed or almost entire; petiole about 1 in. long. Flowers usually solitary, the outer segments greenish yellow, the inner orange, about 5⁄8 in. wide, borne on stalks not more than 1 in. long. Males with up to ten perianth segments, the stamens united into a more or less globose head. Female flowers with more numerous segments than in the male. Mature carpels scarlet, in spikes up to 6 in. long: Bot. Mag., t. 4614.
Native of the Himalaya; in cultivation 1828. It is a tender species, at one time cultivated in greenhouses.
var. chinensis Oliver
Leaves narrow-lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate-oblong, {3/8} to 1 in. or slightly more wide, sometimes marbled with white. Flowers yellowish, borne in late summer; introduced by Wilson in 1907 from W. Hupeh, China. According to him it is a common species up to about 3,300 ft, growing in rocky places; he saw it always less than 10 ft high. It is hardier than the Himalayan plant and like it is easily distinguished from other species by its short-stalked flowers. Since they open so late, it would probably be necessary to grow both sexes of this variety if fruits are to be seen.
