| Positive | Monocromatico | On Aug 30, 2003, Monocromatico from Rio de Janeiro
Brazil (Zone 11) wrote:I proudly present Laplacea fruticosa, one of the species I worked on my monograph about Theaceae. I canīt express how I love this plant particularly. The shiny, assimetric leaves, the scented, big white flowers that shows up constantly amke my eyes twinkle!
This is a shrub or small tree, reaching up to 4m tall from different regions of Brazil, always on the border of the forests, sometimes in cold places. Has light green, shiny, assimetric leaves with serrated borders. The branches and roots donīt expand too much, so you donīt need much room for it.
The flowers are big, white, with an inconstant number of roughly heart shaped petals, nicely perfumed, with numerous light yellow stamens. These flowers show up one by one along the branches, starting in mid winter and stopping in the end of summer, although I suspect that it depends on the climatic conditions. The seed pods are dark brown, with many flying seeds.
This plant lives on moist organic soil, most times on the border of forests, recieving some sun light, but staying under light shade a few hours per day. I found some individuals living in a cold place, next to a river, at 1100 meters of altitude, but I have registries of plants living on the coast, under heavy tropical heat, and also some on the tropical forests of Rio de Janeiro, so I guess it can take anything, as long as it can be kept frost free. I have yet to experiment how to propagate it, and when I do it, it will surely have a place in my garden. |
