Recent taxonomic changes based on DNA analysis now place this species in the only other genus besides Magnolia to occupy the Magnoliaceae family. L. chinense and the Eastern North American species L. tulipifera represent an evolutionary phenomenon known as species disjunction. In such cases, similar selection pressures, acting over eons of time, produce two very similar species, often derived from a common ancestor, that have physically drifted apart due to geological/continental separation. This species is rare and endangered, occurring in small populations or as scattered individuals. It requires regular water and full sun, and prefers rich, deep soil.
The Japanese Flowering Quince is truly sensational: a visual wonder with branches wreathed in spring color and pungently aromatic in the fall, its spicy fruit well-suited for jams and conserves. It is native to sunny locations on hills and mountains in warm to cool temperate zones on the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu.
A dense, low deciduous shrub with both ascending and sprawling, spiny, well-branched stems, 30-100 cm in height, and wider spread. Leaves are alternate, serrated, and ovate to obovate in shape, 2-5 cm long, falling unusually early amidst the growing season. Flower appear in clusters, concurrently with new leaves, in April and May, are hermaphroditic or staminate (male), and measure 2.5-3 cm across. Cupped, spreading petals are orbicular to widely obovate in shape with rounded apices. Pome fruits are very fragrant, globose and glabrous (smooth surfaced), yellow to greenish yellow and 3-4 cm in diameter. Their pulp is rather hard, of a whitish-yellow color and quite acidic. The ovoid, mucilaginous seeds are dark brown.
Relatively easy to grow, Japanese Flowering Quince is happy in full sun to part shade, enduring most well-drained, friable soils, and accepting considerable pruning directly after flowering.
The Chinese Red Birch is well known for it’s bark, “...shining like burnished copper [that when peeled away] leaves behind it a creamy, glaucous bloom...” (Rogers, 1928). It is native to north central China.
Culture is best in very well-drained soils with regular water, under full sun. Bronze birch borer, leaf miners and aphids can be problematic in some areas and at certain times of year. Prune when dormant (late January in mild-winter, non-freezing areas) to avoid sap bleed and pest introduction. Also, avoid lawn plantings as all birches are greedy for water and nutrients.
This deciduous shrub is endemic to forests of Japan's Honshu Island, in the north and along its Japan Sea (northwestern) side. Its common name in Japanese, Hirohagomagi, refers to the sesame seed smell that exudes from the leaves when crushed. Its leaves are a rich, dark green color, with hairy undersides and vivid, almost straight, lateral veins. Striking, terminal panicles of creamy-white flowers, in a depressed pyramidal shape, appear from late April to mid-June, practically covering the plant. Sensational, turgid drupes of brilliant scarlet-red, in broad, splayed clusters sporting beautiful red stems, appear from late July to October, gradually turning to bluish-black. The fruit is 8-10 mm long by 5-7 mm wide, elliptically shaped, annd with a longitudinal groove extending along the ventral side. This shrub likes full sun to part shade, regular water, and a moist, rich, loamy soil.
Siebold's Crabapple is a beautiful tree in every season. It's modest size, 2-6 meters in the wild, and lovely show of flowers and fruit in spring and autumn respectively, make this a tree with many landscape design applications. This example was grown from seed collected from the wild by Charles Howick, William McNamara, and Roger Warner on October 3, 1987 at c 210 meters elevation, from a large spreading bush growing on volcanic silt in a flat, open valley bottom with maple, ash, alder on the north side of Mt. Apoi in Hokkaido, Japan.
This deciduous shrub has simple, serrate leaves, ovate to elliptical in shape, and often 3-lobed, rarely 5-lobed on young branches. The 2-3 cm wide flowers, in groups of 4-8, are born in 4-6 cm wide corymbs that appear on the apices of young branches in April - June. Red to brownish yellow pome fruits are somewhat globose in shape and 6-8 cm in diameter, appearing August - October. It is native to China, Japan, and Korea. They thrive in full sun with moderate to regular water and must
Ideally, crabapples require plenty of over-winter cold for greater productivity (estimated as a minimum of 600 hours below 7° C). They thrive in full sun with moderate to regular water and must be protected from typical rose family diseases (such as fireblight and mildews) and pests (such as scale, aphids, and apple moths) Prune only to define structure and remove suckers.
The Igiri tree, as it is known in Japan, is dioecious (separate male and female individuals), reaching 8 - 21 meters in height with deep green, coarsely serrated leaves on red-tinged petioles. Yellow-green flowers appear in April and May (or later, in cultivation) on panicles, 20-30 cm in length, with male (staminate) flowers slightly larger than female (pistillate) flowers. Stunning berries follow in October and November, turning from purple-red to orange-red, 8-10 mm, adorning the female trees in clusters resembling loose bunches of grapes, drying to black with age. The Igiri tree naturally occurs in deciduous broad-leaved and mixed forests at 400-3000 meters in elevation in China, Japan, and Korea, and is popular as an ornamental. Cultural requirements for this species include full sun to part shade, with regular water in moderately fertile, well-drained soil.
