×Sycoparrotia semidecidua P.K. Endress & Anliker

It is probably not unfair to characterise ×Sycoparrotia semidecidua as the plain child of two attractive parents. The seed parent of the original cross which arose in Switzerland around 1950, the Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) is a sometimes sprawling deciduous tree with a bright, flaking bark and a brilliant autumn colour display. Sycopsis sinensis, the pollen parent, is a compact and elegant evergreen with a quietly attracive floral display at the end of winter. The original cross – which has never been given a clonal name and whose features form the basis of the above description – combines the habit of the Ironwood and the dull grey bark of Sycopsis; its leaves are intermediate in features and in late autumn some of them turn yellow and drop while others hang on until the flowers open. Parrotia flowers are reddish while in Sycopsis the longer yellowish anthers are more conspicuous; the hybrid’s flowers tend towards those of Sycopsis but the combination of red and yellow appears brownish from a distance. Despite its untidy habit ×Sycoparrotia can eventually grow into a small tree: one at RHS Garden Wisley in England was 12.5 m tall in 2009 with a single stem 26 cm thick, and takes up a lot of room (Tree Register 2023).

Both parents are adaptable trees which are quite easy to propagate, and like many hybrids × Sycoparrotia semidecidua is both tough and full of vigour. The earliest clones of the Leyland Cypress spring to mind by way of comparison: here is a plant of no obvious ornamental value and which simply takes up the space that could otherwise be used to cultivate or conserve a tiny bit of the world’s natural biodiversity, but which, because it happens to be easy to grow, is continually presented by suppliers as a plant the customer could or should buy. More than seventy years after it was first noticed, the original clone of ×Sycoparrotia decidua remains a staple feature in the catalogues of many tree nurseries.

Several other clones of ×Sycoparrotia semidecidua have arisen since, either as back-crosses or as independent hybrids, and are listed below. Of these, ‘Purple Haze’ is a plant of some ornamental merit and appears to be replacing the original clone in popularity.