''Chimonanthus praecox'', also known as wintersweet
and Japanese allspice,
[ is a ]species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Chimonanthus
''Chimonanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Calycanthaceae, native to China, but is also cultivated elsewhere in Asia, including Iran. The genus includes three to six species depending on taxonomic interpretation; six are acce ...
'' of the family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Calycanthaceae
The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species , restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions:
* '' Calycanthus'' (thr ...
, native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
to China. The plant is known as ''làméi'' () in Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
. The plant is also grown in Iran, where it is called ''gol-e yakh'' () or "ice flower" in Persian.
It is a vigorous deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
shrub growing to tall with an erect trunk and leaves long and broad. Its strongly scented pendant flowers, produced in winter (between November and March in UK,tepals
A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
, the inner ones usually with purplish red pigments.flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s; C: foliage
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, s ...
; D: hypanthium
In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...
; E: longitudinal section of hypanthium; F: fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
; G: terminal leaf buds; H: seedling
A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embryo ...
船宿寺の蝋梅 御所市五百家 Wintersweet blossoms in Senshukuji 2012.1.18 - panoramio.jpg, Winter flowering
Frutti Chimonanthus praecox.jpg, Leaves and fruit
This plant is cultivated in gardens, producing valued flower colour in the dormant season. The cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s ''C. praecox'' 'Grandiflorus' and ''C. praecox'' 'Luteus'Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
's Award of Garden Merit.
The plant is not closely related to allspice, ''Pimenta dioica''.
Cultural use
''C. praecox'' is a common motif in traditional Persian poetry, literature, and music. A more modern example of ''C. praecox'' in Persian music is Kourosh Yaghmaei's '' Gol-e Yakh''.
References
External links
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Calycanthaceae
Flora of Central Asia
Flora of China
{{Laurales-stub