(Hydrangeaceae)
Hydrangea longifolia  CWJ12413

Description

A new species into cultivation which I collected with Finlay Colley in a hidden valley running from the east coast of Taiwan in the autumn of 2007. In cultivation forming a semi-evergreen medium sized shrub in mild climates. Closely related to H. involucrata, which it shares many features with, including the golf ball-like bud of the inflorescence, but on a larger scale, as are the broad cymes of flowers borne in summer into autumn. The foliage however is oblong-lanceolate thin-textured and bristley 15-30 cm long narrowing at both ends. Best grown in a fertile drained soil with some moisture retention, sheltered from freezing winds.