Agulhas china flower

Adenandra obtusata

Scientific name

Adenandra obtusata forms a robust, single stem upright shrub and grows to a height of 30-50cm. With its showy flowers and aromatic foliage it forms an ideal plant for your garden. Leaves are dull green, smooth on top with a clear whitish-green mid-vein below. Leaves are oval in shape, 5 x 3mm. Leaves are erect to spreading, oblong, overlapping (imbricate) with thickened margins rolled back and downwards (revolute). Look closely and you can spot a few glandular spots on the margin. Leaves closer to the tip of the branch are more crowded together. Young shoots develop at the tips of branches and these are ideal for cuttings.

The flowers buds are pink-red in colour and look like cherries on the bush. The reverse of the petals is flushed pink and the inside white, giving a very attractive effect. The flower has five petals marked with a purple throat. Flowers occur solitary or in clusters of up to 4 flowers at tips of branches and form glutinous (sticky) heads. They are subsessile (almost stalk less) or sessile (lacking a stalk). Peak flowering occurs from autumn to spring.

References and further reading

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