Lechesco (Stemmadenia galeottiana)

Lechesco
Stemmadenia galeottiana

Lightly fragrant blooms which only seem to last the day.

Ron, your tree is beautiful. I just ordered one of these, and it arrived with a bad mite infestation so I removed most of the leaves and treated with Fungicide3, which is a fungicide, insecticide, and miticide with Neem Oil. Hopefully, the leaves will grow back, and it will respond well to the treatment. Do you ever have a problem with mites on yours?

Where did you get yours from Clare? I got mine from TopTropicals. It was about three feet tall 1-1/2 years ago when it arrived. It's about seven feet tall now. I've not noticed mite problems. The thing that's impressed me is how flawless the leaves stay--even in winter (or should I say especially). It pretty much bloomed continusously all summer.

-Ron-

Hi Ron, thanks for your reply. I got mine from Top Tropicals as well. It is a beautiful plant, but it should be for $70. It is about three feet tall as well, but all the leaves have obvious mite damage. I am not happy about paying $70 for a plant that comes with mites and mite damage. If they grow back and become flawless like yours, I'll be happy. Do you have yours in the ground, Ron, or in a container? Did you enjoy the fragrance?

Sorry to hear that Clare. I know that after these recent spate of hurricanes, they have had problems.

I got mine early summer last year and planted it immediately in an area where I can water it continuously or at my leisure. It arrived in perfect condition--no leaf spotting or anything. That summer I had to water it about four times a week. After it established, I water it at my leisure. The tree is right next to my Metrosideros collina Springfire. It started blooming in June and continued until fairly recently (maybe late Oct/early Nov).

I don't know how to explain the scent. Very, very different. Not perfumey at all, but very distinctive and pleasant.

Another tree I got from Toptropicals was their Radermachera. Originally they listed it as R. ignea. Obviously it is not that tree. I got another Radermachera from Gardino (rareflora.com) and it is identical to the Toptropical one. They listed it as R. pierrei.

Anyway, both of mine are still quite small (1-2 feet). The first one bloomed very profusely this summer. It is very perfumey smelling with a clean, soapy overtone. To me, it has a very 'feminine' smell. If you get a chance, get the one from Gardino, it is just as nice, and much, much cheaper at $12.

-Ron-

Hi Ron, thanks for the info. I have two Radermachera sinica here, but they have never flowered for me. My mom has a huge one in her front yard in Santa Barbara, and it flowers for her, and the fragrance is quite pleasant. Thanks for the recommendation. I hadn't heard of R. pierrei, but I'm glad to hear that it flowers when small.

I just lost my Hymenosporum flavum. I really liked the fragrance of those flowers. I think mine got too much water and may have received water from the neighbor's yard as it was very close to the property line between our two properties. Have you ever smelled those flowers, Ron? They are delicious like orange blossoms.

From TopTropicals, I also got a Cerbera odollam, a grafted Gardenia Aimee, a Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, a Rauwenhoffia siamensis, and the Stemmadenia. I went a little crazy since these are Christmas presents to me from hubby. The Gardenia Aimee plants are in nurseries here, but I got one from TopTropicals because it is grafted. I lost the one I had last winter probably because it got too much rain in its container. I figured a grafted one would do better with that.

I am really interested in keeping the Nyctanthes alive. I got a couple of small plants a couple of years ago from Logee's, and they both ended up dying. This is a medium-sized one, and I have it in my portable greenhouse for now. It doesn't get much below 50 in there. Do you know anything about the care of Nyctanthes, Ron? There doesn't seem to be much info out there on it.

Have you ever smelled the flowers of Pong Pong Tree, Cerbera? A friend in Hawaii found it one day and recommended it to me, but it is fairly poisonous, and your skin can be irritated just by touching the plant.

Clare, I'm not familiar with the Nyctanthes or Cerbera.

Here's a pic of the Radermachera I mentioned. I planted it a little over a year ago on the old mulch pile. It went through last cold, wet winter with flying colors. As you can see, it's only about 15 inches or so tall. It had another large umbel of blossoms, but they were so heavy it broke the little branch off. Sort of reminds me of perfumey soap. Very pleasant and definite smell. It dropped its leaves in late Spring and bingo--in a few weeks it was all leafed out again. It seems to be quite cold hearty AND summer heat-tolerant--a sturdy little plant.

I got some Radermachera hainanensis from seed on Spec's site, but all the seedlings expired. I'm in the process of losing the last one. I've also got a Radermachera ignea seedling that is about six inches and seems to be doing fine outside on the balcony.

-Ron-

Very interesting, Ron. Thanks for posting a picture. I love those flowers! And with a fragrance too, I am sold. Does it get to be a huge tree like its relative? I can look that up if you don't know. I really like it though and will get one from Gardino's. I'd like to get a Tabernaemontana holstii from them too, but they never seem to have it in stock. I have a Tabernaemontana divaricata, but the fragrance is very mild.

Ron, I came back here to drool over your Stemmdenia picture. My tree miraculously came back to life in 2006, and I planted it in the ground, but I don't know how much longer I'll in on this property so I may have to dig it up again to take it with me unless I can propagate it from cuttings. Have you ever tried to propagate yours?

I have the same Radermachera that you do, and I love it. It smells like Grape candy to me. My friend Kukiat in Thailand says it is likely a Radermachera species. I planted it in the ground, but I had to get on my hands and knees to smell the flowers so I dug it up and put it in a container.

Hi Clare,

Nice to hear from you again. I've never tried to propagate Stemmadenia. Heck, I'd just give it a try with the cuttings. I imagine if you have to dig it up, you're going to have to cut it back anyway.

I love that little Radermachera too. It always reminded me of scented soap. Mine hasn't grown very fast though and I think part of the problem is that I planted it on my old mulch pile.

Also, tell Kukiat that I have a three-foot Radermachera hainanensis growing in pot that I will be planting out in the Spring. I got the seed from him.

-Ron-

Hi Ron, it's nice to chat with you again too:-) My Stemmadenia is still pretty small so I think I might dig it up this spring and put it back in a pot. I will for sure try to root cuttings then. My Radermachera is fairly small too, but perhaps it is a slow grower or just small in size compared to its cousins? I would think that yours would really like your mulch pile. I will definitely pass that on to Kukiat. I'm sure he will be delighted. TTYS

Hi Clare,

I know it's been a long time since you posted on this thread, I just received a Stemmadenia galeottiana from Top Tropicals last week and went outside today to look at it, it looks so healthy, but upon looking under the leaves I see it is infested with something I've never seen before....you talked about yours being infested with mites.....do these look like mites to you? If so did anything work to get rid of them. I have sprayed with Insecticidal soap twice and tried blasting them off with a hose but they are stubborn.

Anyone else had trouble with this plant? I supposedly live in the ideal climate here in Florida so I'd really like to keep it alive.

Samantha

Hi Samantha, yes, those are probably mites. I clipped all the leaves off and sprayed the stem and any baby leaves. You might want to do the same. Mites are very hard to get rid of. You could try spraying with a miticide like Neem, 3 in 1, Insecticidal Soap, or Isotox Systemic, but I think it is just easier to cut the leaves off and let healthy ones grow back. Mine stayed dormant for one winter, and the leaves grew back in the spring. It died the following winter from the cold spell we had. I couldn't afford to replace it at what TopTropicals charges.