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Carmichaelia odorata Colenso

Modern name

Carmichaelia odorata Hook.

A shrub up to 10 ft high in a wild state; young shoots flattened, downy (especially towards the end), 112 in. wide. Leaves pinnate, 12 to 1 in. long; leaflets three to seven, each 18 to 14 in. long, wedge-shaped, notched at the end, downy, usually falling by early summer. Flowers 18 to 16 in. long, lilac-rose, fragrant, packed closely ten to twenty together on racemes 12 to 34 in. long; flower-stalk and calyx downy. Pod 14 in. long, ovate, terminated by a slender beak, one- or two-seeded. Bot. Mag., t. 9479.

Native of New Zealand, up to altitudes of 2,500 ft. It bears a wonderful profusion of blossom in June and July and the slender, pendulous branches give it a graceful shape. It needs a sunny, warm corner and shelter from north and east. The downy shoots and, early in the season, the pinnate downy leaves give distinctive characters. The leaves and leaflets of the larger dimensions given are only found on young seedling plants. There is a specimen 10 to 12 ft high on a wall in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden.


Carmichaelia odorata

Carmichaelia odorata

Genus

Carmichaelia

Other species in the genus