Weigela maximowiczii (S. Moore) Rehder

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Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
The Normanby Charitable Trust

Credits

Tom Christian & Alan Elliott (2019)

Recommended citation
Christian, T. & Elliott, A. (2019), 'Weigela maximowiczii ' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/weigela/weigela-maximowiczii/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Shrub to 3 m, branches with 2 hairy ridges when young. Leaves ovate or obovate 4–9 × 1–3.5 cm, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate or rounded, margin shallowly or acutely serrate, both surfaces sparsely hairy, longer denser hairs on the midrib on the lower surface, lateral veins 5–7, petiole absent.Flowers axillary on previous year’s growth, solitary. Pedicel absent or very short less than 1 mm, bracts and, bracteoles linear, 3–8 mm, persistent. Calyx tube 5-lobed, bilaterally symmetric, linear or awl-shaped, upper 3 lobes longer than lower 2 lobes, free half of length, 0.8–1.5 × c. 0.1 cm, hairy. Corolla funnel-shaped, 3.5–4.5 × 1–1.2 cm, gradually widening from the base, pale greenish yellow or pale yellow, glabrous Corolla tube 2 cm, hairy inside, corolla 5-lobed, slightly bilaterally symmetric, ovate or rounded, 0.7–0.8 cm long (c. 35–40% of length of corolla tube). Stamen as long as corolla, filaments 0.5–0.9 cm, glabrous; anthers, fused, linear c. 0.5 cm, yellow. Style longer than corolla, 3–4 cm long, hairy, stigma disc–like, 2–3 mm diameter. Fruit cylindrical, slightly curved, 1.5–2.8 cm long, dehiscing from apex, hairy. Seeds oblong, 2–3 mm long, with wings at both ends. Flowers: April to June. Fruits: September to November.

Distribution  Japan Central and north Honshu

Habitat Forested mountain slopes. 500–2300 m

USDA Hardiness Zone 5-7

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Weigela maximowiczii was a relative latecomer to gardens, not arriving in the United Kingdom until 1915. Like the other yellow flowered species W. middendorffiana (generally regarded as the more ornamental of the two) it is susceptible to damage by late spring frosts and so requires a position that offers both a degree of protection whilst maintaining frost drainage if it is to be enjoyed to maximum effect (Hillier & Coombes 2002).