This feature will appear in the blog throughout the year. Many plants have fallen out of favor over the years, but for the sake of bio–diversity and landscape interest they deserve to be resurrected.
Today's featured plant is Stewartia pseudocamellia or commonly called Japanese stewartia.
This is a small, slow growing, pyramidal deciduous tree which typically matures over time to 25 - 40 feet tall. Often grown in cultivation as a multi–stemmed shrub to 12 feet tall. Cup–shaped camellia-like white flowers (to 2.5 inches) with showy orange–yellow anthers appear in early summer.
Elliptic dark green foliage (to 3 inches long) turns attractive shades of reddish-orange and burgundy in the fall. Exfoliating reddish–brown bark provides good winter color and interest.
Like Camellia and Franklinea, Stewartias are members of the tea family, and grow best in moist, organically rich, well drained soils in full sun to part shade.