{"title":"Chionanthus (Fringetrees)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe genus name says what the trees do. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus\u003c\/em\u003e is Greek for snow flower, from \u003cem\u003echion\u003c\/em\u003e, snow, and \u003cem\u003eanthos\u003c\/em\u003e, flower, and for a week or two each spring a fringetree in full bloom earns the name outright: narrow, strap-like white petals hang in loose panicles over the whole crown until the leaves all but disappear. The genus sits in Oleaceae, the olive family, kin to the lilacs, the ashes and the tea olives, and shares their clean, opposite leaves and their habit of flowering in clouds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo species do the work in Southern gardens. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus virginicus\u003c\/em\u003e, the native white fringetree, runs from New England to Florida and Texas, a large multi-stemmed shrub or small tree of 12 to 20 feet whose shaggy flowers open on last year's wood just as the leaves unfold. Old country names (grancy graybeard, old man's beard) describe the bloom better than any catalog could, and the root bark carries a long history in Southeastern Indigenous and Appalachian folk medicine. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus retusus\u003c\/em\u003e, the Chinese fringetree, comes from China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan and flowers about two weeks later on the new growth, after the leaves are out. In Korea the tree is ipap-namu, the rice tree, for bloom heaped like white rice in a bowl; in Japan the nickname is nanja monja, roughly what-on-earth-is-that.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth are small, slow, well-mannered trees for a terrace, a courtyard or the turn of a path, where the bloom can be met at close range and the light scent caught in passing. Fruiting trees carry dark blue, olive-like drupes that the birds strip as soon as they color. Plant in full sun for the heaviest flowering; both species take a range of soils and pH. One note worth knowing: the emerald ash borer has been documented on the native species, while the Chinese species proved resistant in trials, which is a good argument for planting the two side by side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe listings here include records of fringetrees we have grown in the past as well as the plants on the bench now. Read the full story of the Chinese species in \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/the-node\/chinese-fringetree-chionanthus-retusus\"\u003eThe Tree That Flowers Like Rice\u003c\/a\u003e, find more small flowering trees among our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/canopy-trees\"\u003eCanopy Trees\u003c\/a\u003e, more natives in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/southeast-natives\"\u003eSoutheastern Natives\u003c\/a\u003e, and further East Asian introductions in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/origins-japan\"\u003eOrigins: Japan\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"chionanthus-virginicus","title":"Chionanthus virginicus","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe native fringetree is one of the great small trees of the southern spring. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus virginicus\u003c\/em\u003e, a deciduous large shrub or small tree, often multi-stemmed, hangs the whole canopy with fleecy, drooping panicles of narrow white petals in spring, soft as torn paper and lightly fragrant, a look that earned the old country names old man's beard and grancy graybeard. On female plants the flowers give way to clusters of raisin-sized, deep blue-purple fruits that birds take quickly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWoodlanders grows the southern form, which some botanists have called \u003cem\u003eChionanthus henryi\u003c\/em\u003e, with leaves that are narrower, more glossy, and of heavier texture than those of the northern form, a handsomer plant in leaf as well as in flower. The fringetree carries a long American history beyond the garden as well: Native peoples and later settlers used a tea of the root bark to wash wounds and sores, and nineteenth-century Eclectic physicians prized the dried root bark, which they called Chionanthus, as a bitter tonic for the liver and gallbladder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the garden, the fringetree is an easy, adaptable, four-season ornamental, grown in sun or light shade in good, well-drained soil. Use the tree as a specimen near a path, a patio, or a window where the spring fleece and light fragrance can be enjoyed close up, and give a darker backdrop to set off the white. Underplant with shade-tolerant natives, and pair with dogwoods and native azaleas that share the spring season. A female plant set near a male will fruit for the birds.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057833742451,"sku":"CHIO-VIRG-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/6364A441-4F65-4324-85CC-9EF222279E9E.jpg?v=1783641863"},{"product_id":"chionanthus-retusus-var-serrulatus","title":"Chionanthus retusus var. serrulatus","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor a week or two in late spring, the Chinese fringetree disappears under snow. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus retusus\u003c\/em\u003e var. serrulatus is a deciduous small tree of East Asia, native to China, Korea, and Japan, and the great show is the flowering: dense, lacy, fringed panicles of pure white, each petal narrow and strap-like, smothering the canopy so thickly that the foliage all but vanishes. The genus name says as much, from the Greek chion, snow, and anthos, flower.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe species has been admired in Chinese gardens for centuries, and this serrulate-leaved variety, with finely toothed leaves, is among the more refined forms. Beyond the spring spectacle, fringetrees are quietly generous through the year: a light, sweet fragrance on the flowers, glossy dark green summer leaves, and, on female trees, clusters of small bluish-black fruits in late summer that draw birds and other wildlife. The bark grows handsomely ridged and furrowed with age, giving winter character once the canopy is bare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the garden, the Chinese fringetree makes a superb small specimen or patio tree, slow-growing, clean, and well-behaved, with a rounded, spreading head sized for a courtyard or a modest lawn. Site where the late-spring bloom can be seen in full, near a path, a terrace, or a window, and give a darker backdrop of evergreens to throw the white flowers forward. Underplant with low groundcovers or spring bulbs, and pair with other small flowering trees to extend the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdditional photos courtesy of David J. Stang.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057833840755,"sku":"CHIO-RETU-SERR-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Chionanthus_retusus_var._serrulatus_2zz.jpg?v=1749576560"},{"product_id":"chionanthus-retusus","title":"Chionanthus retusus","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor a week or two in late spring, the Chinese fringetree vanishes under what looks like a fresh fall of snow. \u003cem\u003eChionanthus retusus\u003c\/em\u003e is a deciduous small tree of eastern Asia, native across China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, and the whole performance turns on the flowering: dense, lacy panicles of narrow, strap-shaped petals, pure white and softly fragrant, break over the entire canopy until the leaves all but disappear beneath the froth. The genus name records the effect exactly, from the Greek \u003cem\u003echion\u003c\/em\u003e, snow, and \u003cem\u003eanthos\u003c\/em\u003e, flower.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew trees carry so much affection in their common names. In Korea the fringetree is known as the rice tree, 이팝나무, because the massed white bloom reads like heaped mounds of freshly steamed rice, and a generous flowering was long taken by farmers as a happy omen for the season's harvest. In Japan the same tree earned the delighted nickname \u003cem\u003enanja monja\u003c\/em\u003e, roughly the what-on-earth-is-that tree, a name once handed to any striking specimen whose true identity had been forgotten. Old fringetrees are cherished across the region, several standing as protected natural monuments in Korea and Japan, among them a celebrated grove near Inuyama honored since 1923, and the species now ranks among the most planted street trees in Seoul.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rest of the year the fringetree keeps quieter company with the seasons. Glossy, leathery, dark green leaves, finely toothed along the young margins, carry the summer and turn a clear gold in fall. On female trees the spent flowers give way to clusters of oval, blue-black fruits in late summer, a favorite of songbirds, for the species holds male and female flowers on separate plants and only the females set fruit. With age the bark grows handsomely ridged and furrowed and begins to peel in strips, so even the bare winter tree keeps something to show.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the garden, \u003cem\u003eChionanthus retusus\u003c\/em\u003e makes an exceptional small specimen or courtyard tree, slow and clean and thoroughly well-mannered, building a rounded, spreading head on a scale that suits a patio, a modest lawn, or a clearing beneath taller canopy. Site the tree where the late-spring bloom can be met at close range, near a path, a terrace, or a window, and set a dark evergreen behind to throw the white forward. Underplant with spring bulbs or low groundcovers that will not crowd the trunk, pair with dogwoods or other small flowering trees to lengthen the season, and, where fruit for the birds is wanted, plant a female within sight of a male.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45297362272371,"sku":"CHIO-RETU-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/ChionanthusretususJimRobbins.jpg?v=1785517407"}],"url":"https:\/\/woodlanders.net\/collections\/chionanthus.oembed","provider":"Woodlanders","version":"1.0","type":"link"}