Sourwood

(Oxydendrum arboreum)

Date Planted: Approximately1970

Family:  Ericaceae

Hardiness:  Marginally hardy in the Gorham, ME area; typically Zone 5-9

Mature Dimensions:  Can grow to 60' with 25' in width; most specimens are approximately 30' in height with a 20' width.

Habit:  Unruly in youth maturing to pyramidal

Bark:  Grayish brown with a red tint; deeply furrowed and thick with horizontal scales at the base of the tree

Buds:  1/16 inch in length, conical to globose shaped, sessile, solitary, and lacking a terminal bud

Leaves:  Simple, alternate, and finely toothed; elliptic to lanceolate and 3 to 8 inches in length with width of 1 to 3 inches.  Lustrous deep green coloring turns yellow, red and/or purple in fall

Flowers:  Lacy flowers appear in July in the Gorham area; they are white, perfect, urn-shaped, and organized in one-sided clustered racemes. 

Fruit:  1/3 inch long, dehiscent and 5 valved; yellow and pendulous at first, then brown and upright with maturity.  Seedpods persist through the winter.

Pests/Diseases:  Leaf spot and twig blight; rarely serious

Reference: Dirr M.1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing Co., Champaign IL.