Stachyurus

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Stachyurus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/stachyurus/). Accessed 2024-09-16.

Family

Stachyuraceae

Species in genus

Glossary

ovary: Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
style: Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
axillary: Situated in an axil.
berry: Fleshy indehiscent fruit with seed(s) immersed in pulp.
bisexual: See hermaphrodite.
capitate: Head-like.
family: A group of genera more closely related to each other than to genera in other families. Names of families are identified by the suffix ‘-aceae’ (e.g. Myrtaceae) with a few traditional exceptions (e.g. Leguminosae).
included: (botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
ovary: Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
simple: (of a leaf) Unlobed or undivided.
stigma: (in a flower) The part of the carpel that receives pollen and on which it germinates. May be at the tip of a short or long style or may be reduced to a stigmatic surface at the apex of the ovary.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Stachyurus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/stachyurus/). Accessed 2024-09-16.

Stachyurus praecox at Pan Global PLants, Gloucestershire, March 2009. Image John Grimshaw.

This genus, once included in the Theaceae (Ternstroemiaceae), now ranks as a separate family, of which it is the only member. Leaves deciduous; stipules present, but minute and soon falling. Flowers bisexual in axillary racemes, formed in autumn and opening in spring before the leaves. Sepals and petals four, imbricated. Stamens eight, in two whorls. Ovary four-chambered with numerous axile ovules (interpreted by some botanists as one-chambered, with the ovules arranged on parietal placentae which grow out from the wall of the ovary and meet in the centre). Style short, simple, with a capitate stigma. Fruit a leathery many-seeded berry. It is a small genus, with about ten species in E. Asia.

Of the species treated here, only S. praecox and S. chinensis are frequently planted, and both are hardy. They prefer an acid, humus-rich soil, but are said to be lime-tolerant; it is always advisable to add peat or leaf-mould to the soil when planting, especially if it is on the heavy side. A sunny or half-shaded position is necessary. Propagation is by cuttings made of fairly firm wood taken in July with a heel attached, and placed in gentle heat.

The genus is reviewed by H.-L. Li in Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 70 (1943), pp. 615–28.