Normally grown as a shrub, this mature specimen is in tree form.
H. miconioides was discovered in China in 1907, and just nine populations of this rare plant are known to exist in the wild. Habitat loss threatens 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 Conestoga 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 support the petals during the bloom.)
[The last two photos are not from CH&G.]
