Rhodoleia (Hamamelidaceae) FMWJ13339

parvipetala

From one of our seed collections gathered above the Silver Waterfalls near Sapa in northern Vietnam at 2150m, in a degraded forest with Aaron Floden in the autumn of 2011. An unlikely member of the witch hazel family on first encounter, with lax branches of very glossy dark green thick textured oblong leaves to 12cm long which can be silvery white below. Flowering mid to late summer in the wild, with a flamboyant display of Rhododendron-like inflorescences of bright pink flowers made up of many broadly spatulate petals. Best grown in a sheltered warm position in full sun to light shade in a freely draining organic soil that is neutral to acid.