How to Grow and Care for Meliosma

Upon the slightest touch, the fully mature flower bud of oldham's meliosma explodes, releasing a puff of pollen into the air. Though its wood and timber are commercially considered worthless, they're sometimes used for crafting rafters, boxes, and other small objects.

Abundant-flower meliosma is a deciduous tree that boasts a lush canopy of pinnate leaves with serrated leaflets, creating a textured green vista. In summer, its branches come alive with panicles of small, white, fragrant flowers, attracting a symphony of pollinators. Thriving in well-drained soil, abundant-flower meliosma often adorns forest edges, where it reaches for sunlight, ultimately sculpting the landscape with its stately presence.

An evergreen small tree that reaches 7 m in height. The bark is reddish brown and smooth. Cover the shoots, inflorescences, petioles and leaves with reddish brown fluff. The leaves are abundantly bunched together, the petiole is 2 to 4 cm in length, the leaf blade is a narrow needle shape or a needle shape, sometimes a needle-shaped oval shape, the tip sharply sharpens, the base side gradually flows into the petiole, 12 to 22 cm in length, 30 cm in the case of large, leaf width is 3 to 7 cm. The leaves are leathery, the edges have rough saw blades, and the tips of the saw blades stick out in a hook shape, but sometimes they are not noticeable. There are 10-16 pairs of side veins, and the surface is hairless and shiny, but on the back side, the veins are clearly raised. A large conical inflorescence appears at the tip of the stem. The inflorescence length is 10 to 20 cm, the flower is white with a diameter of 4 to 6 mm, the floral pattern is 2 mm long, and brown hair grows from the floral pattern to the sepal. The petals are 5 and the outside 3 are large, wide egg shape, 2 to 3 mm in length, and open greatly when flowering. The drupe is spherical and has a diameter of 6 to 7 mm, initially red and then ripens to black purple.

When the tiny buds of simple-Leaved Meliosma (Meliosma simplicifolia) are fully mature, they explode at the slightest touch, sending pollen flying into the air. The flowers die and fall off shortly after. For this reason, it is rare to see open flowers on this shrub. Tall shrubs are harvested for their wood.

Warm wood (Meliosma veitchiorum) is a tree that is grown ornamentally for the attractive fall colors of its serrated leaves and its spectacular inflorescence of abundant white spring flowers. The tree should be netted in areas with populations of deer, as they are known to eat the leaves.