Artabotrys hexapetalus (L.f.) Bhandari

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘[Artabotrys odoratissima], after various shiftings from one inappropriate group to another, according to the wavering views of different botanists, is now placed in a new genus constituted for its reception by Mr. Brown. […] The shrub is native of China and the East Indies, where it is cultivated as an ornamental covering for walls, as well as on account of the fragrance of the blossom, diffusing an odour like that proceeding from the finer kinds of ripe fruits.  The drawing was taken in the autumn before last, at the Dowager Lady De Clifford’s garden, Paddington, where the fruit was produced, in the hothouse, probably for the first time in Europe.  The flower which is seen at the bottom of our plate was obtained from the same source.  Under a warmer sun the bloom is described as yellow, not green, as it proves to be with us: the fruit is likewise said to attain that colour when well ripened, and is sometimes much larger than in our specimen; but never eatable.  Introduced in 1758 by the then Duke of Northumberland.’  [BR f.423/1820].

History at Camden Park

Only listed in the 1857 catalogue [T.68/1857].

Notes

Artabotrys odoratissimus Blume (1863) = Artabotrys honkongensis Hance.