Description
Sapindaceae (family name)
Forage for Pollinators: Heavily worked by Honeybees and Short-tongued Bumblebees for Nectar, and also for Pollen.
Flowering Time: July, August
Growing Information: An elegant, slender small to medium deciduous tree growing to 10m (up to 32 feet) high by 8m wide reaching full height in 20-50 years. It is a pest-tolerant specimen tree, also resistant to honey-fungus, and (as if that isn’t enough to make you want one of these trees) it is also drought-resistant, liking areas with long, hot summers. New growth dislikes late spring frosts when young leaves are out, hence why it is a good idea to plant in a sheltered south or west-facing site, and avoiding frost-pockets. It prefers well-drained or moist but well-drained soils of any pH and any type and full sun in West or South-facing aspect, with some shelter from wind. Leaves are pinnate; pink-coloured in spring, and in summer become large. The panicles of yellow flowers, with just four petals each, are conspicuous and are followed in autumn by the bladdery seed-pods which ripen from green to orange and pink. Native to China, though “having been grown in gardens in the United Kingdom since 1763” (quote from Cambridge University Botanic Gardens). Hardy to between minus 10 and minus 15 ◦ C, though its leaves are sensitive to late and hard frost in spring, but the tree recovers from this set-back within a few weeks. The flowers have medicinal use for conjunctivitis, and are used as a yellow dye, while the leaves are used as a black dye. Seeds are used for bead-making.
