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Celastrus angulatus Maxim.

Modern name

Celastrus angulatus Maxim.

Synonyms

C. latifolius Hemsl.

A deciduous, dioecious shrub of striking appearance and remarkable vigour; ultimately 10 ft high and 20 to 30 ft through, with strong, spreading branches marked with lenticels, becoming corky the second year; pith lamellate. Leaves much larger than in any other hardy species; from 4 to 8 in. long, by 212 to 6 in. wide; broadly oval or almost orbicular, with a short, abrupt, blunt apex, shallow rounded teeth at the margin, and a short stalk from 12 to 1 in. long. Flowers small, greenish, produced in a terminal panicle 4 to 6 in. long and 2 in. wide. Fruit a roundish, obscurely three-sided capsule 12 in. across; when the valves of the capsule burst open, they show the orange-coloured inner surface and the bright red, fleshy covering of the seeds.

Native of the Hupeh province of China; introduced by Messrs Veitch in 1900. The dioecious character of the species is a disadvantage in gardens, as it is necessary to have two plants to obtain fruits, which with such large, spreading ones as this is not always convenient.


Genus

Celastrus

Other species in the genus