Elliottia Species, Georgia Plume, Southern Plume, Summer Plume

The Arnold Arboretum (Boston Z6a) had an attractive small specimen for over 25 years, and now has a replacement.

Very beau...Read Moretiful white flowers in panicles, beginning in July here. (In Georgia, flowering begins in mid June.) Different from your typical heath family flowers, the petals are free and not fused into a bell.

The foliage is green, not blue-green.

The habit was rather japonesque---with an attractively twisted trunk, more like a miniature tree than a shrub. Not suitable for clipping like a yew, it would serve better as a specimen in a Japanese garden than it would in a foundation planting. The old Arnold specimen was about 5' tall. In its native range, this species can reach 35' tall with a trunk to 12" diameter.

Requires acidic soil. Found in wet places and in dry sandy soils in the wild, but adapts well to ordinary garden conditions. Like many members of the heath family, its roots are dependent on "ericoid" mycorrhizal fungi for its proper growth and development.

Notoriously difficult to transplant. Rarely produces viable seed. It can spread by suckering, and can be propagated vegetatively by rooting young shoots emerging from cut roots. A practical tissue culturing protocol has been developed. http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/43/2/447.full

Endemic to Georgia, it's less rare in the wild than was once thought.

The following article is interesting: http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1987-47-4...

Has barely survived in a protected location in my zone 6 climate for 5 or more years. Not really a success, though it eked out a rather p...Read Moreitiful looking bloom once. A second plant is doing much better in a container overwintering in an unheated garage.

This was planted in 2012 and has done well so far. It has been very slow growing and made it through our zone 8 five degree night last wi...Read Morenter (2014).
It seems to be drought tolerant with moderate water needs. No pest or disease problems so far.

This plant died during an extended period of rain. I now have a small specimen planted and will keep an updated progress report on it. I would also not recommend fertilizing this plant

I was looking through a tree guide and I have read this is an extremely rare small tree. I wonder if anybody has a specimen they either ...Read Moregrew from seed or has bought from a nursery.