Heptacodium Miconioides, Seven-Son Flower
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Of interest this week at Beal... Seven-son flower Heptacodium miconioides Family: the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae W. J. Beal Botanical Garden This rare and splendid member of the honeysuckle family was first seen by a Westerner in 1907 when Mr. E. H. Wilson, traveling on behalf of the Arnold Ar- boretum, collected specimens from a cliff about 3000 feet above sea level in the western Chinese province of Hubei. It was noted as being rare, the day it was dis- covered. This discovery was not actually described until Alfred Rehder, also of the Arnold Arboretum, took it up in 1916. The genus name Heptacodium translates to mean seven-part flower head (see next page). The species epithet miconioides is a reference to its resemblance to a plant in the Meadow beauty family, Miconia, with which it shares some characteristics. But when inspected, Rehder found there was only a single ripe fruit on the sheets comprising the collection, thus no living plants resulted from that expedition. The next time Heptacodium is heard from is 33 years later when a second species, Heptacodium jasminioides is described from some undetermined Chinese materials found at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. Today, the name Heptacodium jasminoides is regarded as a synonym of Heptacodium miconioides. It is not until the 1980 Sino-American Botanical Expedition that viable seeds for Seven- son flower were received at the Arnold Arboretum. These prove to be easily cultivated, fast growing, and hardy. As a landscape planting H. miconioides offers two huge fea- tures. When the long-maturing buds finally open in September, they produce large shows of fragrant white flowers at a time when most flowers have past and they draw large numbers of butterflies and other pollinators. After the white corollas have fallen, the calyces develop into deep red expanded lobes that are considered to be as visually impressive as the flowers, and lasting as late as November. A study by Lu et al. in Genetica, 2006, 128(1-3):409-417 found that after significant decline, there are only nine known populations of the already rare tree/shrub remain- ing in its native regions in China. The name Seven-sons flower originated with the observation that many of the flower heads are comprised of seven flowers (this one has six). This connection to the number seven inspired the “Hepta-” (’επτα) in the genus name Heptacodium. The North American part of the story is more optimistic. Since its introduction in the 1980s, Heptacodium miconioides has been discovered as a stunning planting. Ours is more than 10 feet in height. The fact that it can be reproduced as a softwood cutting has opened the door to its availability, and it can now be obtained from many sources. It is a homeowner’s chance to own an impressive part of the world’s rarest biodiversity..