Quackin Grass Nursery

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Oxydendrum arboreum - Sourwood from Quackin Grass Nursery

Oxydenrum arboreum - I can't say enough about remarkable monotypic genus. Sourwood is extraordinarily ornamental. Long green simple glossy leaves are handsome in spring and summer. Summer flowers occur at branch tips. The structure is unusual; Narrow strands stretch from the base where they all connect from 4 to 8 inches long in the shape of a many-fingered hand. The structure elegantly slopes downward over the leaves. Small, white urns dangle from the strands; these may emit a slight frangrance. This trait may be variable. Bees love the flowers. The panicles decorate the tree as if it was Christmas in July. The panicles remain on the tree for the remainder of the growing season. In autumn the tree glowers in fluorescent bright red with the pale yellow panicles decorating in contrast. But some years the foliage darkens to glossy purple with inner leaves in luminescent light yellow. In other years mixed shades of purple, red and yellow with touches of orange arrive in rutilant riot. Once the leaves drop the panicles remain. On older specimes the gray-brown bark displays a fissured affect with ridges. To achieve a strong, upright conical tree it may have to be nudged along with pruners and / or a stake in the early years. But it is definitely worth the effort as the end result will be magnificent. The species is naturally found from New York west to Illinois, south to Lousisana, east to Florida. Foliage is bitter hence the common moniker, Sourwood. The Latin "oxys" translates to "acid". "Dendron" means "tree". And that is where its common name originates. Full sun in acid soils.