Habitat

• native to central and western China
• zone 5

Habit and Form

• a deciduous multistemmed shrub
• upright, leggy shape
• slightly, drooping branches
• 8' to 12' tall
• 5' to 8' wide
• medium texture
• slow growth rate

Summer Foliage

• deciduous simple leaves
• opposite leaf arrangement
• simple leaves with toothing
• 3" to 6" long
• wide, lanceolate leaf shape
• pubescent leaf veins and petiole
• blue-green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• reddish fall color
• not reliable

Flowers

• white flowers
• blooms late May
• flat-topped cymes
• 1" to 2" in diameter

Fruit

• egg-shaped drupe
• reddish-orange to orange
• matures in October
• very showy

Bark

• gray and fissuring
• glabrous stems
• stout
• lenticels
• two types of buds; vegetative and reproductive
• both types of buds are imbricate
• green with red edges

Culture

• prefers well-drained, mildly acidic soil
• full sun to partial shade
• flowers on new wood

Landscape Use

• shrub borders
• screen
• mass plantings
• for flower effect
• for fruiting effect

Liabilities

• bacterial leaf spot
• nematodes

ID Features

• small, orange, egg-shaped drupe
• deciduous leaves in an opposite arrangement
• simple leaves with toothing
• green buds with red edges
• branches tend to droop due to fruit weight

Propagation

• by cuttings

Cultivars/Varieties

'Aurantiacum' - This old selection is probably more common than the species due to its unusual, bright orange pendant fruit. Like the species, it may become leggy with age and require renewal pruning.