EMMENOPTERYS henryi

Description

EMMENOPTERYS henryi is one of the interesting flowering trees. They appear in September and are cream colored. They look a bit like the flowers of SCHIZOPHRAGMA integrifolium. As with DAVIDIA involucrata, be patient to see the first flowers. It seems that flower production is initiated by long hot summers.
In addition, spring shoots start with a bronze/purple color and then turn green/dark. On the other hand, the underside of the evergreen leaves is paler.
This tree can reach an age of a thousand years.

History and Origin

E. henryi has its origins in the temperate parts of central and southern China, as well as Vietnam. In its natural habitat it reaches heights of 45 meters.

The species E. henryi is named after the botanist Augustine Henry.

Ernest Wilson introduced this genre for the first time in Europe (England) in 1907. However, Daniel Oliver first described the plant in 1889. It also bears the synonyms of MUSSAENDA cavaleriei or MUSSAENDA mayori.

Furthermore, the first EMMENOPTERYS henryi flowered in continental Europe in 1971 in the Villa Taranto arboretum at Lake Maggiore, Italy. However, only a few large specimens exist in Europe.