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Abelia schumannii (Graebn.) Rehd.

Modern name

Abelia parvifolia Hemsl.

Synonyms

Linnaea schumannii Graebn.

A deciduous shrub with slender arching shoots that are downy when young and purplish. Leaves ovate, not or but little toothed, blunt or rounded at the apex, tapered at the base; 12 to 114 in. long, 14 to 12 in. wide; downy along the midrib beneath. Flowers successively produced from June to August singly in the leaf-axils of short, leafy twigs springing from the joints of the previous year’s growth. Corolla 1 in. or rather more long, rosy pink, minutely downy outside, broadly funnel-shaped, slightly bellied towards the base. Sepals two, oval or obovate, rounded at the end, 14 in. long. Stamens downy at the base. Bot. Mag., t. 8810.

Native of Central China; introduced by Wilson in 1910. In the open air at Kew it is rather tender and often cut back by winter cold, but it shoots up again in spring. It does not, therefore, reach any great size. It has a long blossoming season and flowers are often developed up to November. It is perhaps the handsomest of the E. Asiatic abelias.

Its nearest relative is A. engleriana, which is distinguished by its smaller flowers and larger, more slenderly pointed leaves. Another ally is A. graebneriana (q.v.).

A. longituba Rehd., with which A. schumannii has been confused in the Botanical Magazine (t. 8810), is perhaps not in cultivation.


Genus

Abelia

Other species in the genus