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An Andean shrub from Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia and Venezuela where it makes a large shrub or small tree.
My plant is rather slender and looks as though it would fall over if it grew larger than a few feet tall. I bought it at a local plant sale because I had never heard of it. I was warned that it was a bit tender but that it survived outside locally. I haven't had the courage to try it yet but I have plenty of long spindly stems to use as cuttings next year and then out it will go (it suffers the predations of red spider mite in the greenhouse). Future Forests say: "An very unusual small tree (sometimes a large shrub) from South America, Vallea stipularis is a rather slow-growing, evergreen tree with an upright, branching, spreading habit. The leathery, ovate to heart-shaped leaves are glossy dark green, and arranged spirally round the twigs. From late spring into summer, the tree carries clusters of delicate, bell-shaped flowers, deep pink to crimson, and bears more in autumn. Pera-caspi is not reliably hardy, and is best grown against a warm wall in milder areas, or in a cool, shady greenhouse." |
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| 11th September 2011 | ||
