
Heptacodium miconioides
Seven-Son Flower Tree
Conestoga House & Gardens, 1608 Marietta Avenue, Lancaster PA (near entrance)
Normally grown as a shrub, this ma- ture specimen is in tree form.
H. miconioides was discovered in China in 1907, and just nine popula- tions of this rare plant are known to exist in the wild. Habitat loss threat- ens all of these populations but luckily, Seven-Son is now widely grown around the world as an ornamental and in collections like the one at Con- estoga House.
This amazing species produces white flowers in late summer, but when the white petals fall, the long-lasting pink sepals remain to give the appearance that the tree is flowering a second time. (Sepals are the structures that protect the flower bud and then sup- port the petals during the bloom.)
[The last two photos are not from CH&G.]


