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.)

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[The last two photos are not from CH&G.]