Helwingia chinensis Narrow Leaves

Helwingia chinensis 'Narrow Leaves' is a newly discovered variety of Asiatic bush that exhibits a small plant eccentricity - a whim of biodiversity. The long arched stems are adorned with evergreen, dentate, narrow and shiny foliage, dark green with a hint of violet. In May-June, it reveals an unusual flowering habit, with small white flowers growing from the middle of the leaves.

Helwingia chinensis 'Narrow Leaves' (Chinese Narrow-leaved Helwingia) belongs to the Helwingiaceae family. With vigorous growth, it reaches a height of 2 to 3m and a width of 1.20 to 1.80 m (4 to 6 ft). It has graceful evergreen, shiny, very thin and narrow, lanceolate and dentate leaves, 12 cm (5 in) long. The dark green colour turns into a beautiful purple-violet shade in autumn and winter, as well as in spring on the young leaves. This epiphytic plant displays an extremely rare and unusual botanical curiosity, namely that its flowers are born in the middle of the leaves. This bizarre morphology results from a fusion between the flower peduncle and the leaf peduncle. The purple flower buds, emerging in May-June from the central vein of the leaf, open up into small greenish-white flowers. As a dioecious bush, both a male and a female plant are required to obtain fruiting in the form of blue-black berries.

This Chinese Narrow-leaved Helwingia, decorative all year round with its beautiful evergreen and shiny foliage, thrives in partially shaded to shaded areas of the garden. It will ideally be placed at the back of a flowerbed in the company of bushes and perennial plants whose foliage will provide contrast in both colour and shape - such as Japanese maples, dwarf honeysuckles, hydrangeas, azaleas, or golden holly. At the back of a shady perennial bed it will blend perfectly with variegated leaf hostas, heucheras, Caucasian forget-me-nots, or knotweeds.

The genus Helwingia was named in honor of Georg Andreas Helwing (1666-1748), a German pastor and botanist who discovered and described numerous Prussian plants, including Pulsatillas.