PlantFiles: Chinese Fringe Tree
Chionanthus retusus

This beautifully complex & seasonally ornate, aesthetically pleasurable botanical gift resides outside the front door of my townhouse. I have observed that, among several unique traits, that it deciduously sheds it's leaves after all other trees in the region. It stands alone literally & in several ways. Currently it is starting to shed, but does so metachronously, staggered but not necessarily predictably based on positional or aerial sequence. As leaves are falling, a berry forms, becomes tumescent & assumes the size of a blueberry replete with indelible ink-like juice which falls to the ground, & if stepped on, will stain sole of shoe & walkway, in my case. It's shape is oval, not globoid like a blueberry. I noted 20-30 finches, of the same species & subtype (birds of a feather flock, but also dine on ilk dietary target, together). I have not seen said finches as part of the local gentry or local avian residential population, of which there are several other species of birds & their nests in other nearby arborial structures. These finches feed on this berry. It is relatively, if not outright, sub-species specific from a dietary standpoint. One wonders if the digestive enzymes incapacitates the presumptive seeds inside the berry structure, or, if not, as in other notable examples of symbiosis & bilateral mutually beneficial maneuvers between xenobiotics, defecation of the uric acid paste deposit randomly disperses & disseminates seeds for expectant germination. Only problem is, there are no other neophytes in the area. I understand it is a fastidious species, & not being indiginous to these here parts (sorry, I'm from N.C.- actually, I'm not sorry at all), may not be conducive to German-nation (hah-hah) b/c of suboptimal soil, pH or other milieu, versus pollination by the arthropodial vector(s). Visually arresting but wonderfully intriguing & perplexing. Proud to pontificate & wax philosophic on the subject matter. I amsk what I amsk, like a good friend once told me. A-cah-cah-cah-cah-cah-cah!!!!!

This Chinese Fringe tree is doing quite well in my backyard with a western exposure and in heavy clay soil. It's irrigated by a drip system.

The flowering in spring is fantastic! Also, it is a low maintenance tree. No leaf burn or insect damage. It's a great tree but am surprised at it's growth pattern. It seems to be goblet shaped instead of umbrella.

10 years? I bought mine last year while visiting Callaway Gardens. Thought it was an unusual tree.

This is the corner delight in our shady area, tall and incredibly graceful. The white fringe flowers are like a sprinkling of snow. The leaves are a fall high light, turning brilliant yellow.

You need a male and a female for it to produces olive shape and sized fruit which the birds love.

Very slow growing, never needs pruning.

Reportedly, new trees can require ten years to the first bloom.