''Hydrangea anomala'', the Japanese climbing-hydrangea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae native to the woodlands of the Himalaya, southern and central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and northern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. It is a woody climbing plant, growing to 12 m height up trees or rock faces, climbing by means of small aerial roots on the stems. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are deciduous, ovate, 7–13 cm long and 4–10 cm broad, with a heart-shaped base, coarsely serrated margin and acute apex. The flowers are produced in flat corymbs 5–15 cm diameter in mid-summer; each corymb includes a small number of peripheral sterile white flowers 2–3.5 cm across, and numerous small, creamy-white fertile flowers 1–2 mm diameter. The fruit is a dry urn-shaped capsule 3–5 mm diameter containing several small winged seeds. The closely related ''

Hydrangea petiolaris ''Hydrangea petiolaris'', a climbing hydrangea (syn: ''Hydrangea anomala'' subsp. ''petiolaris''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae native to the woodlands of Japan, the Korean peninsula, and on Sakhalin island of eas ...

'' from eastern Siberia,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and Korea, is sometimes treated as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''H. anomala''; it differs in growing larger (to 20 m) and flower corymbs up to 25 cm diameter. The common name

Climbing hydrangea Climbing hydrangea is a common name for several species in the genus ''Hydrangea'', and also of related species in other genera: *'' Decumaria barbara'' *''Hydrangea anomala'' *'' Hydrangea hydrangeoides'' *''Hydrangea petiolaris ''Hydrangea pet ...

is applied to both species.

Cultivation and uses

''Hydrangea anomala'' is grown as an ornamental plant. The

''H. anomala'' subsp. ''petiolaris'' has received the Royal Horticultural Society's

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 ...

Etymology

‘Hydrangea’ is derived from Greek and means ‘water vessel’, which is in reference to the shape of its seed capsules.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 50, 206 ‘Anomala’ means ‘anomalous’ or ‘unlike its fellows’.

References

External links

Flora of China: ''Hydrangea anomala''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q148137

anomala ''Anomala'' is a genus of shining leaf chafers in the family of beetles known as Scarabaeidae. There are at least 1,200 described species in ''Anomala''. A common characteristic behavior of beetles in ''Anomala'' is that most grubs of these ...

Flora of Japan Flora of China Garden plants