''Caryopteris'' (bluebeard; ) is a genus 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 ...

s in the family Lamiaceae (formerly often placed in the family

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. The ...

). They are native to east

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

( China,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Japan,

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant families
/ref>Germplasm Resources Information Network
''Caryopteris''
Flora of China
''Caryopteris''
/ref>Flora of Pakistan
''Caryopteris''
/ref>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan . They are

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials. Definition ...

s or small shrubs growing to 1–4 m tall. The leaves are opposite, simple ovate to lanceolate, with an entire or crenate margin; they are often aromatic. The blue or white

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 are pollinated by butterflies and bumblebees. The

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 ...

is a four-valved capsule containing four seeds. ;Species #'' Caryopteris forrestii'' Diels - Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan # '' Caryopteris glutinosa'' Rehd. - Sichuan # '' Caryopteris incana'' (Thunb. ex Houtt.) Miq. - Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang # '' Caryopteris jinshajiangensis'' Y.K.Yang & X.D.Cong - Yunnan # '' Caryopteris mongholica'' Bunge - Mongolia, Gansu, Hebei, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi # '' Caryopteris tangutica'' Maxim. - Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan # '' Caryopteris trichosphaera'' W.W.Smith - Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan ;formerly included #''Caryopteris aureoglandulosa'' (Vaniot) C. Y. Wu = '' Schnabelia aureoglandulosa'' (Vaniot) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris bicolor'' (Roxb. ex Hardw.) Mabb. = '' Pseudocaryopteris bicolor'' (Roxb. ex Hardw.) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris divaricata'' Maxim = '' Tripora divaricata'' (Maxim.) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris nepetifolia'' (Benth.) Maxim = '' Schnabelia nepetifolia'' (Benth.) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris paniculata'' C.B.Clarke = '' Pseudocaryopteris paniculata'' (C.B.Clarke) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris siccanea'' W.W.Sm. = '' Rubiteucris siccanea'' (W.W.Sm.) P.D.Cantino #''Caryopteris terniflora'' Maxim. = '' Schnabelia terniflora'' (Maxim.) P.D.Cantino

Cultivation and uses

Though several ''Caryopteris'' species are grown in

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s, as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s the species have largely been superseded in gardens by the

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

''Caryopteris'' × ''clandonensis'' (''C. incana'' × ''C. mongholica''). The accidental cross that produced it occurred in the garden of Arthur Simmonds at Clandon, near Guildford, Surrey. In 1930, wishing to propagate ''C. mongholica'', he gathered seeds from a plant that was growing near ''C. mastacanthus''. When the seedlings eventually flowered in their second year, hybrids appeared. The final selection, however, was made of a self-sown volunteer that appeared under ''C. mastacanthus'', and eventually smothered it. It began winning

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 ...

medals in 1933. This small,

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, ...

, aromatic shrub has grey-green leaves and produces masses of blue flowers in late summer. ''Caryopteris'' × ''clandonensis'', an unusual plant in American gardens in the 1960s, has become more familiar there, especially in

xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other ...

. Like ''

Buddleja ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Revere ...

'', the woody stems can die back in the winter, particularly in colder climates and on heavy soils. They prefer well-drained, sandy soil in full sun, but does not need especially rich soil or constant moisture. Leaves and herbaceous stems have a

terpene Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n > 1. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predominantly by plants, particularly conifers. Terpenes ...

aroma like

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

, especially when lightly bruised.

Cultivars

There are several cultivars with flowers in shades of blue or white, including 'Blue Mist', 'Heavenly Blue', 'Longwood Blue', 'Dark Knight', 'Summer Sorbet' and 'Pershore'. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:- *'Arthur Simmonds', *'First Choice' * = 'Lisaura' * = 'Lissilv' *'Summer Sorbet' *'Worcester Gold'

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q583668 Lamiaceae Lamiaceae genera Flora of China Flora of Eastern Asia Flora of Mongolia Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge