PlantFiles: Yellow Jade Orchid Tree, Fragrant Champaca, Fragrant Himalayan Champaca
Michelia champaca

We had an old tree in our house before. It was chopped down when an extra room that was built, not because it was much in the way, but someone who had climbed it to pluck flowers for worship had fallen and injured. It was my grandmother who made got it removed due to that. I had seen it when young. THE BRANCHES ARE VERY WEAK. They cannot take much load. So be careful when climbing the tree. I used to try to climb it as a boy and my grandmother shouted from the window not to climb it!

4 years ago we bought 2 five foot tall Himalayan Champacas from a local Houston nursery. One of them developed black burn-like spots on the main branch, shed all the leaves and died. We moved the other one out of full sun into partial shade and it survived till now. We enjoy the beautiful light green leaves and the shade that it gives to our laundry room. It is happy with a few buckets of water weekly and an occasional handfull of osmocote fertilizer. When I see too many leaves turning yellow and dropping, I would cure it with a dose of liquid iron. We are disappointed that it never bloomed -our soil is close to pH 7, what is a save acidifier to use to lower the pH? If it still would not bloom, we may cut it down because it is only 5 feet from the house and the roots may damage the foundation. The trunk is about 5 inches in diameter - can it survive if we transplant it in winter?

I purchased a 5 gallon Michelia Champaca tree last summer (2005) and although it has grown by leaps and bounds, it continues to shed brown leaves. During the winter, it looked very anemic as the leaves were way too light (the green color is normally a lighter shade not deep green). I find that I am constantly "grooming" the tree. Quite a few of the green leaves have borders of black along the edges and I haven't figured out what that's about.

In addition to constantly grooming the tree, I find that I am anxiously awaiting buds. Sometimes I think I see one beginning and it turns out to be a leaf! About 2 blocks down from me, there is a 15 to 20 foot Michelia Champaca that blooms constantly so I'm not sure if it's just that ours is too young or what.

I really love this tree but I find myself worrying about it (brown leaves, leaves too light in the winter, etc.) and wondering if it will ever mature and not need as much TLC.

I planted 5 [rather expensive seeds] this past summer, in a cactus mix [ as per instructions]..only one of the seeds has germinated [took about 5 weeks] but very slow growing..It is my intentions to purchase a tree but too late in the season..
The seedling is healthy and strong but at this rate it will take for ever to grow and bloom I should imagine...

A "sacred" tree in India, often planted close to Buddhist and Hindu temples. Two different flower colours: the common deep saffron, and another paler version. Heavenly fragrance!
(Note: one particularly spectacular heritage specimen, estimated to be over 500+ yrs old and truly gigantic can be forund in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in South India; when in full bloom, the fragrance spreads a radius of several kilometers! Local forest people consider the tree a living 'temple').

Planted one this Christmas morning.

I grow two of these trees in containers, and one of them bloomed at only 8 feet tall this year. The fragrance of the flowers is best appreciated by not putting your nose directly in the flower. The scent is strong and intense and reminds me of incense with an East Indian flavor. The leaves look terrible between the end of summer and the beginning of winter as they go through their annual leaf shed. Monrovia and other growers call this tree an evergreen, but I think it should be labeled as semi-deciduous. In the spring, the tree redeems itself with new lush leaves and new growth.

The "neutral" rating is because of the condition of the leaves for half of the year and for the unusual fragrance of the flowers. The Michelia Alba, however, I would give a positive rating to because the fragrance is sweet and wonderful, and the leaves don't have the same tendency to brown and shed.

I LOVE THIS TREE. Here in Los Angeles when we first planted this tree, it bloomed intensely from Spring to Summer with light intermittent bloom in Fall. Beautiful 2" across blooms along the branches, in between leaves. Heavenly citrus/honeysuckle type smell from yellow-orange flowers.

Lush, bright lime green leaves, to 10" long, which due to their shape, most people mistake it for an Avocado upon first sight. Tree has an overall Christmas tree like shape. We've had ours (purchased a 24" box) planted for 3 years now, and it's 20' tall and 10' wide (they tend not to be as tall in cultivation...a friend of ours has had one for 7 years and it's about 28' tall)

From the Eastern Himalayans. A highly unusual tree and somewhat rare. Every person who sees it comments on how beautiful it is.

We have encountered a severe Chlorosis problem that is compounded by clay soil, which we are treating with Chelated Iron. So be wary of clay heavy soil and Chlorosis...if you have heavy soil, watch out for salt burn as well. Ours is remedied by flushing salts out with deep watering to 18" (which is the preferrable way to water trees anyway, so it works out well)

From the Magnolia family, so it prefers the same type of food/care (i.e., no lime, likes slightly acidic soil). We've found this tree to be semi-deciduous in our area for the winter, but rallies quickly once the temperatures in the evening are consistently 60 or above.

As this tree is from the Himalayas, it can take cold, but will be deciduous in a winter type climate. Once established, not fussy at all, and quite a stunner.