Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Photinia
Species: P. davidiana
Binomial name: Photinia davidiana
Synomnyn: Stranvaesia davidiana
Common name: Chinese Photinia, David's photini
Photinia davidiana is a species of fast-growing, evergreen shrub with a bushy habit. It is native to the west, central and south China, extending over the border to Vietnam. It has been introduced to many countries as a garden plant. It is a close relative to the garden shrub hybrid photinia “Red Robin”.
It has simple, alternate, dark green, leaves which are elliptic to lanceolate and are up to 12cm long and 4.5cm broad. The leaves margins are entire. New leaves emerge a dark, burgundy red in the spring. Before autumn some portion of older foliage inside the plant gains a bright carmine red or an orange colour. In the autumn the leaves at tips of the branches turn deep burgundy red again.
In spring Photinia davidiana has white, hermaphrodite flowers which are up to 1cm across. They appear as panicles which are up to 10cm across. The flowers are pollinated by insects.
In autumn flowering is followed by umbels of small red, pome fruit that persists.
A Photinia davidiana growing wild in farmland west of Christchurch.
[1]
Fruit turning red late February.
[2]
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
