weigela

Weigela
Weigela florida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Dipsacales Family: Caprifoliaceae Genus: Weigela Thunb.
Species
About 10 species; see text

Weigela (pronounced /waɪˈdʒiːlə/)^[1] is a small genus of about 12 species of deciduous shrubs in the family Caprifoliaceae, growing to 1-5 m tall. All are natives of eastern Asia.

The leaves are 5-15 cm long, ovate-oblong with an acuminate tip, and with a serrated margin. The flowers are 2-4 cm long, with a five-lobed white, pink, or red (rarely yellow) corolla, produced in small corymbs of several together in early summer. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous small winged seeds.

Weigela species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail.

The genus is named after the German scientist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel.

The British Weigela national collection is held at Sheffield Botanical Gardens; along with the national collection of the closely related Diervilla genus.[1] The German Weigela national collection is held at Sichtungsgarten Weigela in Buckow, Maerkische Schweiz [2]

Species

• Weigela coraeensis
• Weigela decora
• Weigela floribunda
• Weigela florida
• Weigela hortensis
• Weigela japonica
• Weigela maximowiczii
• Weigela middendorfiana
• Weigela praecox
• Weigela x wagnerii
• Weigela subsessilis

Cultivation

Several of the species are very popular ornamental shrubs in gardens, although species have been mostly superseded by hybrids (crosses between W. florida and other Asiatic species).

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Weigela

• Weigela coraeensis - Images
• British national collection at Sheffield Botanical Gardens

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