Shrubs, deciduous, to 3.5 m. Stems erect, ternately branched, not jointed, thick, sericeous, glabrescent. Leaves usually clustered distally, petiolate; blade lanceolate to oblong, surfaces glabrescent. Inflorescences axillary, capitate, often drooping, pedunculate; bracts absent. Flowers: hypanthium tubular, often curved; calyx 4-lobed, lobes spreading; petals absent; stamens 8, included, adnate to hypanthium; style included, linear; stigma clavate. Fruits drupaceous, brown, dry to leathery, enclosed at base by persistent hypanthium.

Distribution

Introduced; Asia (w China, Himalaya), cultivated in warm, temperate regions.

Discussion

Species 4 (1 in the flora).

Selected References

Duncan, W. H. and M. Mellinger. 1972. Edgeworthia (Thymelaeaceae) new to the Western Hemisphere. Rhodora 74: 436–439.

Lower Taxa

Edgeworthia gardneri