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Photinia pyrifolia

(Black Witch)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Black Witch, Chokecherry, Crazy Ant, Crimson Speckled Footman Moth, Galapagos Carpenter Ant, Galapagos Green-Eyed Horsefly, Galapagos Hawkmoth, Indefatigable Hawkmoth, Large Tailed Skipper, Ornate Moth, Red Chokeberry

Description

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Family Rosaceae

Trees , shrubs , or herbs, deciduous or evergreen . Stems erect , scandent , arching , prostrate , or creeping , armed or unarmed . Buds usually with several exposed scales , sometimes with only 2. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite, simple or compound ; stipules paired , free or adnate to petiole , rarely absent, persistent or deciduous; petiole usually 2-glandular apically; leaf blade often serrate at margin , rarely entire. Inflorescences various, from single flowers to umbellate , corymbose , racemose or cymose-paniculate. Flowers usually actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual and then plants dioecious. Hypanthium (formed from basal parts of sepals, petals, and stamens) free from or adnate to ovary, short or elongate . Sepals usually 5, rarely fewer or more, imbricate; epicalyx segments sometimes also present. Petals as many as sepals, inserted below margin of disk, free, imbricate, sometimes absent. Disk lining hypanthium, usually entire, rarely lobed . Stamens usually numerous , rarely few, always in a complete ring at margin of or above disk; filaments usually free, very rarely connate ; anthers small, didymous , rarely elongate, 2-locular. Carpels 1 to many, free, or ± connate and then adnate to inner surface of cupular receptacle; ovary inferior, semi-inferior, or superior; ovules usually 2 in each carpel, rarely 1 or several, anatropous , superposed . Styles as many as carpels, terminal , lateral , or basal, free or sometimes connate. Fruit a follicle, pome, achene, or drupe, rarely a capsule, naked or enclosed in persistent hypanthium and sometimes also by sepals. Seeds erect or pendulous, sometimes winged , usually exalbuminous , very rarely with thin endosperm; cotyledons mostly fleshy and convex abaxially, rarely folded or convolute.

Between 95 and 125 genera and 2825-3500 species: cosmopolitan , mostly in N temperate zone; 55 genera (two endemic) and 950 species (546 endemic) in China.

Many plants of this family are of economic importance and contribute to people s livelihoods. The Rosaceae contain a great number of fruit trees of temperate regions . The fruits contain vitamins, acids, and sugars and can be used both raw and for making preserves, jam, jelly, candy, various drinks, wine, vinegar, etc. The dried fruits of the genera

Amygdalus and Armeniaca are of high commercial value. Some plants in the genus Rosa containing essential oils or with a high vitamin content are used in industry . Rosaceae wood is used for making various articles, stems and roots are used for making tannin extract, and young leaves are used as a substitute for tea. Numerous species are used for medical purposes or are cultivated as ornamentals .

The Rosaceae are very well represented in China, with great economic and scientific importance. The Co-chairs of the Editorial Committee (Wu and Raven) here note that the patterns of relationship are complex and the group is taxonomically difficult. [1]

Genus Photinia

Trees or shrubs , deciduous or evergreen . Winter buds small; scales imbricate, few. Leaves alternate, simple , papery or leathery, venation camptodromous , margin serrate, rarely entire, shortly petiolate ; stipules present, usually subulate . Inflorescences terminal , umbellate or corymbose , rarely shortly paniculate , many flowered, sometimes flowers 2- or 3-clustered or solitary. Hypanthium cupular or campanulate to cylindric , adnate to ovary or free near apex. Sepals 5, persistent , short. Petals 5, contorted or imbricate in bud, base clawed. Stamens usually ca. 20. Carpels 2-5, rarely 1; ovary semi-inferior, (1 or) 2-5-loculed, in fruit free apically or to 1/3 length ; styles(1 or) 2-5, free or ± connate , short, dilated apically; stigmas truncate ; ovules 2 per locule, erect . Fruit a pome, globose , ovoid , or ellipsoid , somewhat fleshy , (1- or) 2-5-loculed, free from calyx only near apex or to 1/3 length, with persistent, incurved sepals; carpel crustaceous or membranous, each locule 1- or 2-seeded; seeds erect, testa leathery; cotyledons plano-convex .

About 60 species: E, S, and SE Asia, also in Mexico; 43 species (32 endemic) in China.

Wu Zhengyi (editor's note ) believes that Pourthiaea is morphologically distinct from Photinia and should be treated as a separate genus.

Many species of Photinia are ornamental trees and shrubs with large lustrous leaves and attractive white flowers in the spring followed by red fruits in the autumn. The wood is hard and heavy, suitable for making furniture and other small articles.[2]

Physical Description

ID Features: Alternate leaf arrangement. Suckering habit. Red pome fruit. Twigs pubescent (compare to A. melanocarpa with glabrous. twigs). Buds reddish. Underside of leaves fuzzy and gray (compare to A. melanocarpa with. glabrous surface).

Habit: Deciduous.

Flowers: Many clusters of small, white flowers in early May. Bloom is not overwhelming, but add to the plant's multiseason interest. Flowers last about a week. • Bloom Period: March. • Flower Color: near white, white

Seeds: Fruit: Red pome, 0.25" diameter, in flat clusters . Effective from September into December. Birds will eat the fruit, but prefer other fruits first.

Foliage: Summer foliage: Alternate leaves are obovate , 1.5" to 3.5" long and 0.5" to 0.75" wide. Shiny, dark green or medium green on upper surface and fuzzy gray-green on. the underside. Fine, even serrations along leaf margin long the margin. • Fall foliage: One of the best shrubs for brilliant fall color. Intense, shiny, raspberry to crimson, with purplish highlights. Can also. have some orange mixed in, especially in shady sites.

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 6-8' tall.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Excellent for fall foliage effect. Multiseasonal (flowers, good summer foliage, fall foliage color,. persistent fruit). Best used in mass plantings or borders . For naturalistic plantings. Useful for bank stabilization, colonization . Could be used more. • Liabilities: Can get all the problems common to the members of Rosaceae, but I. have rarely seen any serious problems. Tends to spread by underground suckering.

Habitat

Found in various conditions from dry hillsides to wet, almost swampy areas.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,388 meters (0 to 7,835 feet).[3]

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers. • Aronia arbutifolia var. glabra Elliott • Mespilus arbutifolia L. • Pyrus arbutifolia (L.) L. F. • Pyrus arbutifolia var. glabra Cronquist • Sorbus arbutifolia (L.) Heynh.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Photinia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 19 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

P. beauverdiana (Photinia) · P. davidiana (Chinese Photinia) · P. davidiana 'Palette' (Chinese Photinia) · P. floribunda (Purple Chokeberry) · P. fraseri (Fraser's Photinia) · P. glabra (Japanese Photinia) · P. melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry) · P. melanocarpa var. Elata (Black Chokeberry) · P. melanocarpa 'Morton' (Black Chokeberry) · P. pyriflora (Red Chokeberry) · P. pyrifolia (Black Witch) · P. serratifolia (Chinese Hawthorn) · P. serrulata 'Aculeata' (Chinese Hawthorn) · P. villosa (Oriental Photinia) · P. x fraseri (Fraser Photinia) · P. × fraseri 'Cassini' (Pink Marble Photinia) · P. x fraseri 'Pink Marble' (Pink Marble Photinia) · P. x fraseri 'Pointe Du Raz' (Fraser Photinia) · P. x fraseri 'Red Robin' (Fraser Photinia)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal January 30, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Cuizhi Gu, Chaoluan Li, Lingdi Lu, Shunyuan Jiang, Crinan Alexander, Bruce Bartholomew, Anthony R. Brach, David E. Boufford, Hiroshi Ikeda, Hideaki Ohba, Kenneth R. Robertson & Steven A. Spongberg "Rosaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 46. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Lu Ling-ti, Stephen A. Spongberg "Photinia". in Flora of China Vol. 9 Page 121. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 128.560 meters (421.785 feet), Standard Deviation = 223.650 based on 5,949 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012