Maack's Spindle Tree
Growth habit
Tree
Perennation
Long-lived polycarpic perennial
Native distribution
China, Japan, Russia, Korea
Location
Source of plant
Cornell Botanic Gardens, Highland Park
Description
Deciduous shrubs to trees, 3-10m tall, to 15cm d.b.h.; branches and twigs terete, sturdy, green to light green. Petiole 1-2.5mm; leaf blade thinly leathery or thickly papyraceous, ovate, orbicular-ovate, elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, 6-10.5 — 2-4cm, base subattenuate, margin crenulate, apex acute or acuminate, sometimes caudate, both surfaces smooth; lateral veins 6-8 pairs, curving forward, webbing and disappearing before reaching margin. Peduncle 2-3.5 cm, 1-3x dichotomously branched, several flowered; pedicel 5-7 mm. Flowers 4-merous, 8-9 mm in diam.; sepals ovate; petals white, lanceolate or long ovate, apex acuminate or obtuse. Capsule rhombic, with 4 angles and deep grooves, base attenuate, brown or yellow-brown to red-brown, ca. 8 — 9 mm. Seeds subglobose, dark brown, partially covered by orange aril. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Aug-Nov. Edges of woodlands and forests; near sea level to 1000 m. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia (cultivated), Qinghai (cultivated), Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan (cultivated), Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Russia (Far East); cultivated in Europe and North America]. This is one of the most common species in the genus. Its growth is quite variable under both cultivated and wild conditions.
USDA Hardiness Zone
5