''Pieris japonica'', the Japanese andromeda or Japanese pieris, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the heath

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Ericaceae. It is

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to eastern China, Taiwan, and Japan, where it grows in mountain thickets. This medium-sized

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub or tree is widely cultivated in gardens.

Description

It grows to tall, occasionally up to 10 metres. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are simple, obovate to oblanceolate in shape, 3 to 9 cm long, with serrated margins. They are lustrous and leathery in texture and dark green in color while new growth is a conspicuous bronze or red eventually turning green. It blooms from early to late spring with drooping trusses of fragrant, white or pink urn-shaped flowers about 10 cm long hanging from the tips of the branches. Each flower is about 5 to 6 mm long and its clusters with their long blooming season provide a decorative effect against the young red leaves. The flowers usually last two or three weeks. The plant is poisonous if consumed. The toxicity is a result of the

grayanotoxins Grayanotoxins are a group of closely related neurotoxins named after ''Leucothoe grayana'', a plant native to Japan and named for 19th-century American botanist Asa Gray. Grayanotoxin I (grayanotoxane-3,5,6,10,14,16-hexol 14-acetate) is also known ...

contained by the flowers and leaves. If flowers and leaves are ingested by humans, symptoms may include salivation, headaches, vomiting, cardiac failure, and death. Cattle, goats, horses, dogs, and cats may suffer similar symptoms after ingesting the leaves or flowers of this plant. The name "andromeda" originated from an earlier genus name for the plant.

Cultivation

''Pieris japonica'' is a popular

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

garden plant, producing colour in early spring. A

calcifuge A calcifuge is a plant that does not tolerate alkaline (basic) soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to flee from chalk'. These plants are also described as ericaceous, as the prototypical calcifuge is the genus '' Erica'' (heaths). It is not ...

, it requires acid pH soil, typically in a partially shaded setting such as dappled woodland. It associates well with

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s, and other lime-hating plants.

Cultivars

The following

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have received 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 ...

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

: *'Blush' pink/red flowers, *'Bonfire' - pink/white flowers, *'Carnaval' red/pink leaves turning green edged white, white flowers, *'Cavatine' - white flowers, *'Debutante' - cream flowers, *'Firecrest' - foliage red to green, flowers pink *'Flaming Silver' - young red foliage turning green margined silver, *'Mountain Fire' - red leaves turning green, white flowers *'Pink Delight' - foliage bronze to green, flowers pink to white, *'Prelude' - cream/white flowers, *'Purity' - white flowers, *'Sarabande' - white flowers, *'Valley Valentine' - red flowers,

References

External links

''Pieris japonica'' Images at bioimages.Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants Wikimedia Commons
''Pieris japonica'' image gallery. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2333372 japonica Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Taiwan Garden plants