Pieris floribunda
Flower raceme in March
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Pieris
Species:
P. floribunda
Binomial name
Pieris floribunda
Synonyms[2]
  • Andromeda floribunda Pursh 1813
  • Portuna floribunda (Pursh) Nutt.
'Forest Flame'

Pieris floribunda is a North American species of broadleaf evergreen shrub, a member of the fetterbush genus in the blueberry family (Ericaceae). It is commonly known in North America as mountain fetterbush[3] or mountain andromeda.[4] All parts of Pieris floribunda are poisonous if ingested.[5] In landscapes it should be grown in full to part shade, out of windy locations, and have a good quality soil with much organic matter with acidity of pH 4.5 to 6.5.

The mountain fetterbush is less subject to damage from the Azalea lacebug that often infests the related Pieris japonica.

Description

Pieris floribunda is a bushy shrub growing to around three to six feet (0.9 to 1.8 m) high with oval shiny, leathery leaves which are normally evergreen, but may shed in a harsh winter to brown and persist until spring. It has erect or erect with just slightly nodding panicles of white urn-shaped flowers that form in autumn as erect pink buds. The brown, dry fruit is a slightly angled globular capsule about 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) long in autumn and persisting until late April. The gray-brown bark is shaggy and peeling when mature.[5][6][7]

Distribution

Pieris floribunda is native to the eastern United States, primarily the southern Appalachian Mountains in the States of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia.[8] It thrives in areas of land disturbed by human activity. In common with other members of Pieris, it grows better on well drained soils.[4]

Cultivars

There is a cultivar of a hybrid between the American and Japanese species called 'Brouwer's Beauty' that does adapt easily to cultivation and bears intermediate flower clusters that are erect and yet drooping also.

The cultivar 'Forest Flame' is a large shrub to 4 m (13 ft), with leaves which go from red to pink to green. It produces small urn-shaped cream-coloured flowers in spring. It has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Ericaceae - Pieris floribunda Benth. & Hook.f." International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ↑ The Plant List, Pieris floribunda (Pursh) Benth. & Hook. f.
  3. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Pieris floribunda". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Pieris floribunda". Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas.
  5. 1 2 "Native Plants". Pieris floribunda. New England Wild Flower Society.
  6. ↑ Flora of North America, Pieris floribunda (Pursh) Bentham & Hooker f., 1876. Fetterbush
  7. ↑ North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension description and photos
  8. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  9. ↑ "Pieris 'Forest Flame'". RHS. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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