Chimonanthus praecox (Cultivated)

Chimonanthus praecox (L.) Link, Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 2: 66 1822. (syn: Beureria praecox (L.) Kuntze; Butneria praecox (L.) C.K. Schneid.; Calycanthus praecox L.; Calycanthus suaveolens Salisb.; Chimonanthus baokanensis D.M. Chen & Z.L. Dai .; Chimonanthus caespitosus T.B.Chao, Z.X.Chen & Z.Q.Li; Chimonanthus fragrans (Loisel.) Lindl. .; Chimonanthus grandiflorus (Lindl.) Steud.; Chimonanthus luteus (G.Don) Biel.; Chimonanthus parviflorus Raf.; Chimonanthus praecox var. concolor Makino …….; Chimonanthus verus Biel.; Chimonanthus yunnanensis W.W.Sm.; Meratia fragrans Loisel.; Meratia praecox (L.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson; Meratia praecox var. grandiflora (Lindl.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson; Meratia yunnanensis (W.W.Sm.) Hu);

C. & S. China (as per WCSP);

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Chimonanthus praecox, also known as wintersweet or Japanese allspice, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Chimonanthus of the family Calycanthaceae, native to China. The plant is known as rōbai (蜡梅^?) in Japanese and làméi in Chinese.

It is a vigorous deciduous shrub growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall with an erect trunk and leaves 5–29 cm (2–11 in) long and 2–12 cm (1–5 in) broad. Its strongly scented pendent flowers, produced in winter (between November and March in UK,^[4]) on bare stems, have 15-21 yellow or pale green-yellow, tepals, the inner ones usually with purplish red pigments.^[5][6][7]

This plant is cultivated in gardens, producing valued flower colour in the dormant season. The varieties C. praecox ‘Grandiflorus’^[8] and C. praecox ‘Luteus’^[9] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit.

(from Wikipedia on 18.11.15)

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Chimonanthus praecox : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (4)

Kindly find attached photographs of Wintersweet, Japanese allspice
Botanical name: Chimonanthus praecox
http://www.flowersofindia.Wintersweet.html

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Chimonanthus praecox AT NOV 2016/11 : 8 posts by 5 authors. Attachments (2)

Chimonanthus praecox
Wintersweet
Shimla
Nov., 2016
It is very sweet smelling small tree.

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Thanks for sharing … I had collected this plant in Kashmir in early seventies, but unfortunately at that time with film cameras, costly colour film rolls, you could not afford to click every plant. Perhaps this list of Exotic Trees and Shrubs we had published should be helpful.
Attachments (1) – 1983-Exotic Trees and Shrubs of Kashmir.PDF

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Thank you, Sir.  I had also posted it earlier on efi and FoI, but this time, photographs are much better, so again thought of sharing.

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Family: Calycanthaceae native to China

It is deciduous and sheds all its leaves in autumn. Around the last week of January it starts flowering and the pale yellow waxy flowers borne in profusion remain till early March. The inner tepals have purplish red bases. The flowers are very fragrant and to me their  fragrance seems very similar to that of Narcissus flowers’. In light breeze a single tree can fill a moderate sized lawn with its fragrance.

For members who like myself are fascinated by the shape of pollen grains I have also posted pictures of its pollen seen through a microscope. The pollen is peculiar in that it seems spherical when seen in polar view but appears elongated in equatorial view. Experts have used SEM images of its pollen to distinguish between its different cultivars.

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Previously these bushes were only seen in Mughal gardens but now people have started planting them in their private gardens.

As … has rightly said before the advent of digital cameras photography was a luxury. I too purchased an entry level digital camera only after retirement when my local vendor stopped selling films saying there was no demand for them.

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References:
The Plant List Ver.1.1  WCSP  IPNI  Kew  India Biodiversity Portal  Wikipedia