RE: Plant people
- Subject: RE: Plant people
- From: C* J*
- Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 15:29:15 -0700
I understand why the drought tolerant book wouldn't mention them - they do
like to be watered. The myrtifolia may get to be 80 feet tall, but most of
the references I found are for bonzai stock. The Eugenia uniflora, or
Surinam cherry, seems to do better in the shade, and produces edible fruit.
Doesn't get as tall, either.
-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Seals [g*@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 2:43 PM
To: green@pangeanet.it; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: Plant people
Anthony:
As far as I know, "Eugenia myrtifolia" is a VERY old
name for what we now know as Syzygium paniculatum
(Australian Brush Cherry). I think it still lingers
on with some stubborn nurserymen, especially to refer
to the more compact and/or dwarf selections of S.
paniculatum.
I've seen it in deepest shade but, as you would
imagine with any real sun lovers, it gets lanky and
the color of the new growth is not as intense as it
shold be ("tinged with wine red").
According to the Sunset Western Garden Book (whose
name has been dragged through the mud of late), the
foliage of this plant "burns at 25°F/-4°C". I have a
feeling it will take it lower, however; here in Santa
Maria, we had a few sub-20°F nights a couple of years
back and I saw no serious damage to these plants (but
again, they may have been the ones in the
"microclimates").
By the way, unless you have one of the dwarf forms,
"Eugenia myrtifolia" grows to 80 feet (25 meters)
tall.
Best of luck,
Joe Seals
Santa Maria, California
--- Marina & Anthony Green <green@pangeanet.it> wrote:
>
> (snip) and lastly Eugenia
> myrtifolia, rampant against a portal to the
> herbarium/admin building. I
> can't find any reference to this other than a
> similar synonym to E. foetida
> (Spanish Stopper).
>
> In all a highly educational trip but due to the
> additional qualities of the
> gardens visited a very relaxing one too.
>
> kind regards,
> Mark Brent, Lamorran Gardens, St. Mawes,
> Cornwall.
>
> Mark,
> I'm glad you enjoyed a trip to my adoptive country!
> A local nurseryman suggested I try out Eugenia
> myrtifolia for the shadier side of the house beneath
> some fairly tall olives,
> where the previous owner had planted some very sad
> looking now whitish-leaved Oleanders and some
> mesembryanthemum,
> neither of which needless to say flourished.
> After I brought home a Eugenia myrtifolia plant to
> try it out and see whether it keeps looking OK
> through the winter there, I
> thought I'd try and find out something more about
> the plant, but I have hardly been able to find out
> anything - no-one's talked
> about it on this list (except for a slightly
> disparaging reference to Eugenias being oh-so-common
> in
> California, though I don't
> know what species). Even the RHS Dictionary of
> Plants doesn't mention it, nor does Heidi
> Gildemeister's drought-tolerant
> plant book. Has anyone got much experience of the
> plant or is my nurseryman a real trend-setter? Do
> you think it'll work in
> some fairly heavily dappled shade in zone 9-10?
>
>
> Anthony
> Torre a Mare, Bari, on the Adriatic coast of Italy
>
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