Japanese Stewartia

(Stewartia pseudocamellia)

Date Planted: 1999

Family: Theaceae

Hardiness: Marginally hardy in the Gorham ME area; Zone (4)5-7

Mature Dimensions: 20 to 40 feet tall

Habit: Vase-shaped in youth; pyramidal-oval in maturity

Bark: Gray, sinewy, exfoliating to cream-olive color

Buds:

Leaves: Simple, alternate, elliptic, 2-3 ½ inches long; dark green and shiny with slightly serrated margin, petiole 1/8-1/2 inch long. Leaves yellow to reddish purple in autumn

Flowers: Monoecious, cup shaped, 5 petals, 2-2 ½ inches in diameter; white with white filaments and orange anthers. Appear in mid July

Fruit: Broad ovoid 5-valved capsule; ¾ to 1 inch long, hairy

Pests/Diseases: slight Japanese beetle; basically pest-free

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