Parrotia
A genus of two species, one P. persica native to forested areas of the mountains south west of the Caspian sea in Iran and Azerbijan, introduced to cultivation in the UK in 1888. The second species only introduced to Japan in 1998 by Mikinori Ogisu, who gave a plant to Roy Lancaster in 2001 which is thriving in his front garden. The Belgian nurseryman Antoine Bultinck-Muleman introduced it to Belgium from China in 2000 and most plants in cultivation are from this introduction, as yet not readily available in the nursery industry. Only as known found in the province of Fujian in southern China.
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P. persica makes a tree of good proportions, early introductions can be quite spreading later ones more upright, it is a large forest tree in it's native habitat. Grown for it's beautiful striking mottled bark on mature specimens and for the autumn colour of it's foliage, ranging from yellow, orange and red to scarlet, often a mix of these colours. Produces apetalous flowers in winter, the crimson stamens being surrounded by brown bracts. In the same family as Hamamelis, the fruits are a capsule containing one or two seeds. They are ejected in the same manner as Witch Hazels, as the capsule dries in autumn and the exterior wall shrinks, it causes pressure on the seed which is forcefully ejected for some distance.
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Parrotia subaequalis is a tree of smaller proportions than P. persica so may prove to be a useful tree for smaller gardens. Performance in cultivation has yet to be fully assessed with some reports of good aurumn colour, other gardeners being disappointed. It should be noted that later selections of P. persica are much improved as far as autumn colour is concerned compared to earlier ones, so P. subaequalis has everything to play for.
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CULTIVATION
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They are very tolerant of drought conditions but can also cope well with wet and compacted soils which makes them very good candidates for diverse landscape and garden situations. Mainly grown for the attractive marbled bark on mature specimens, low side branches can be removed to expose the wonderful bark which is a feature, whether single trunked or multi stemmed. The other main attraction is autumn colour to the foliage ranging from yellow, orange, and red to crimson, with often a mix of colours. Autumn colour can be quite prolonged beginning with some cultivars in mid to late summer. A good way of cultivating these plants is as pleached trees, alongside patio or seating areas where they can provide shade during warm summer days. The annual cutting back of the one year old shoots in winter results in good growth which can colour nicely in the autumn.
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GALLERY COMING SOON
