Habitat

• native to China
• zone 5

Habit and Form

• a deciduous large shrub or small tree
• oldest plants in the United States are 15' to 20' tall
• multi-stemmed or single-stemmed
• upright branching and growth
• develops a loose, rounded or irregular crown

Summer Foliage

• simple, deciduous leaves
• opposite leaf arrangement
• leaves are 2" to 6" long and about half as wide
• rounded base and acuminate tip
• dark green mature color
• foliage is of high quality

Autumn Foliage

• poor
• yellow-green

Flowers

• fragrant white small flowers
• borne in 6" long panicles
• bloom time is late August and September
• showy and attract butterflies

Fruit

• capsules that can retain sepals
• sepals change from green to burgundy an last up to 3 weeks
• sepals are as showy as the flowers

Bark

• exfoliating tan bark
• bark comes off in strips and is reminiscent of crape myrtle or beautybush
• attractive

Culture

• full sun is best
• soil adaptable, but prefers a moist, well-drained fertile soil
• easily transplanted and grown
• may need some pruning to tame errant shoots

Landscape Use

• specimen
• in small groups
• for late summer flowers
• for colored sepals in fall
• for attractive bark

Liabilities

• a new plant and therefore a bit hard to find for sale
• stem dieback possibly due to canker
• many plants especially those in shade do not seem to develop retained sepals
• buck deer like to rub their antlers on the trunks

ID Features

• exfoliating tan bark
• late summer white flowers
• red sepals in fall
• leaves have 3 parallel main veins

Propagation

• by cuttings
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

This plant was introduced into the United States in the 1980 and is therefore still uncommon. Cultivars have not yet been selected.