And yet, I never did. Shameful. Shameful because Stewartia pseudocamellia is without a doubt, one of the most elegant, beautiful small trees.
Most of these are shots of the specimen at the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park -- I've actually yet to see one in DC, but I have no doubt they exist. It's a very small growing, compact, multistemmed tree. So far, you may be thinking, nice, but whatev...
The foliage has deeply recessed veins and a minute serration along the edge - I like the textural quality it gives the plant. Part of the reason I haven't blogged about Stewartia was because I never had good pics of the plant in bloom until this summer. I still don't have good fall color photos, but take my word for it - the rich red color is lovely, too.
It's evident why the species name is pseudocamellia when one considers the blossoms. Large, white, camellia-like flowers occur for several weeks in early summer. Like camellias, they have very showy yellow stamens. The plant can be a bit messy when the flowers fall to the ground, but to me it's worth a little cleanup.
And then of course, we have the bark. People love the bark on crape myrtles, but they just don't compare to Stewartia's silvery, satin-like sheen. The bark exfoliates, showing shades of peach, gray and sand, and has a wonderful, shiny surface. Absolutely beautiful. I tell my students that this is the Grace Kelly of trees -- it's a ridiculous statement, but I can't help myself.
Finally, none of this is to say the plant is too delicate -- I also see this growing 10' away from the Hudson River, in Battery Park, and it fares very well there. Part of the reason it's not very popular is because it's expensive (i.e., slow growing), but as you can guess, I think it's worth it.
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