''Hydrangea aspera'' is a species of flowering plant in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Hydrangeaceae Hydrangeaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Cornales, with a wide distribution in Asia and North America, and locally in southeastern Europe. Description The genera are characterised by leaves in opposite pairs (rarely whorled ...

, native to the region between the Himalayas, across southern China, to Taiwan. It is a large, erect

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

growing to tall and wide, with broadly oval leaves. The flowers are typically borne in large flat heads in late summer, and are in variable shades of pale blue and pink, fringed by white or pale pink sterile florets. The Latin ''aspera'' means "rough-textured" and refers to the downy lower surface of the leaves.

Cultivation

The plant is widely cultivated, and favours a sheltered position in acid or neutral soil, with best growth often in partial or afternoon shade. The leaves, in some forms exceeding 30.5 cm (12 inches) long, are vulnerable to drying winds as well as mechanical wind damage. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

have been produced as ornamental subjects for parks and gardens. They include: * 'Anthony Bullivent' * 'Longipes' * 'Mauvette' * 'Peter Chappell' * 'The Ditch' In addition to forms of garden origin, various forms of wild origin are cultivated such as ''Kawakamii'', ''Macrophylla'', ''Robusta'', ''Sargentiana'', ''Strigosa'', and ''Villosa''. Phenotype for plant images returned by a web search on such terms can vary widely, a sign of unsettled taxonomy or complex expression of forms due to wide geographic ranges or other factors, with some authorities giving full species status, e. g. ''H. robusta'' and ''H. longipes'', whereas other sources assign subspecies, e.g. ''H. aspera ssp. robusta'', or ''H. aspera Kawakamii''
example list of Hydrangea from collections
. The cultivar ''H. aspera'' 'Macrophylla' (not to be confused with '' H. macrophylla'') has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

References

aspera Aspera may refer to: Music * Aspera (band), an American indie rock band * ''(a)spera'', a 2009 album by Mirah * Above Symmetry, a Norwegian progressive metal band originally known as Aspera * "Aspera", the lead track from ''We Will Become Like Bir ...

Plants described in 1825 {{Cornales-stub