''Virgilia'' is a genus of Southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n trees in the family Fabaceae that is known for its very fast growth (4.5m in 2 years) and a tendency to fall over as it matures (15 years or so). The common name in South Africa (in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

) is keurboom, meaning 'choice tree'. Valued as useful ornamental trees by gardeners, the genus's two species are also known as tree-in-a-hurry, cape lilac, blossom tree and pink blossom tree.

Taxonomy

Virgilia_tree_-_Keurboom_of_South_Africa_1

The genus was described by

Jean Louis Marie Poiret Jean Louis Marie Poiret (11 June 1755 in Saint-Quentin7 April 1834 in Paris) was a French clergyman, botanist, and explorer. From 1785 to 1786, he was sent by Louis XVI to Algeria to study the flora. After the French Revolution, he became a ...

and published in

Encyclopédie Méthodique The ''Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières'' ("Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter") was published between 1782 and 1832 by the French publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, his son-in-law Henri Agasse, and the latter's ...

in 1808. Most botanists feel that the two species are simply forms and should be lumped under one species, ''Virgilia oroboides''. That would mean that the current ''V. divaricata'' is simply a darker form limited to the forested region of

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47 ...

, South Africa. ''Virgilia oroboides'' had a number of synonyms, while both ''V. oroboides'' and ''V. divaricata'' had both been named ''V. capensis'' by different authors.

Species

Below is a list of offers species of the genus ''Virgilia'' accepted as of July 2014, sorted alphabetically. For each one, the

binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...

name followed by the author is indicated, abbreviated according to the conventions and uses. *'' Virgilia divaricata'' Adamson *''Virgilia oroboides'' (P.J.Bergius) T.M.Salter

Description

These are small to medium sized trees, up to 15 to 20 meters tall, filling space easily in the garden. The tree has shiny green, fern-like,

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

foliage and displays attractive pea-like,

mauve Mauve (, ; , ) is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: ''mauve''). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–98 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare befo ...

/pink, fragrant flowers (which smell like

bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

) during warmer months that will be followed by dark, leathery

seed pod This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...

s.VIRGILIA OROBOIDES
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Cultivation

Growing in full sun to partially shade, they prefer well drained soils; some will then grow 2m in the first season. They will tolerate wind and have dense foliage growing close to the ground, so they are useful as pioneer species for privacy and wind protection, despite having a comparatively short life (15 years). Popular in the UK since the 18th century or so, they are also now commonly present in the USA and Australia.

Gallery

File:Virgilia_tree_-_Keurboom_-_South_Africa_3.JPG, A mature tree blooming in South Africa File:Virgilia_tree_Keurboom_-_Cape_Town_2.JPG, Close up of flowers in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

File:Virgilia_tree_Keurboom_-_Cape_Town_9.JPG, Leaf shape File:Cape_virgilia_in_Perth_(Australia).jpg, A flowering tree in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

References