Pieris floribunda

(Redirected from Mountain fetterbush)

Pieris floribunda is a North American species of broadleaf evergreen shrub, a member of the fetterbush genus in the blueberry family (Ericaceae). It is commonly known in North America as mountain fetterbush[3] or mountain andromeda.[4] All parts of Pieris floribunda are poisonous if ingested.[5] In landscapes it should be grown in full to part shade, out of windy locations, and have a good quality soil with much organic matter with acidity of pH 4.5 to 6.5.[citation needed]

Pieris floribunda
Flower raceme in March
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Pieris
Species:
P. floribunda
Binomial name
Pieris floribunda
Synonyms[2]
  • Andromeda floribunda Pursh 1813
  • Portuna floribunda (Pursh) Nutt.
'Forest Flame'

The mountain fetterbush is less subject to damage from the Azalea lacebug that often infests the related Pieris japonica.

Description

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Pieris floribunda is a bushy shrub growing to around three to six feet (0.9 to 1.8 m) high with oval shiny, leathery leaves which are normally evergreen, but may shed in a harsh winter to brown and persist until spring. It has erect or erect with just slightly nodding panicles of white urn-shaped flowers that form in autumn as erect pink buds. The brown, dry fruit is a slightly angled globular capsule about 12 inch (13 mm) long in autumn and persisting until late April. The gray-brown bark is shaggy and peeling when mature.[5][6][7]

Distribution

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Pieris floribunda is native to the eastern United States, primarily the southern Appalachian Mountains in the States of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia.[8] It thrives in areas of land disturbed by human activity. In common with other members of Pieris, it grows better on well drained soils.[4]

Cultivars

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There is a cultivar of a hybrid between the American and Japanese species called 'Brouwer's Beauty' that does adapt easily to cultivation and bears intermediate flower clusters that are erect and yet drooping also.[citation needed]

The cultivar 'Forest Flame' is a large shrub to 4 m (13 ft), with leaves which go from red to pink to green. It produces small urn-shaped cream-coloured flowers in spring. It has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Ericaceae - Pieris floribunda Benth. & Hook.f." International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ^ The Plant List, Pieris floribunda (Pursh) Benth. & Hook. f.
  3. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Pieris floribunda​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Pieris floribunda". Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas.
  5. ^ a b "Native Plants". Pieris floribunda. New England Wild Flower Society.
  6. ^ Flora of North America, Pieris floribunda (Pursh) Bentham & Hooker f., 1876. Fetterbush
  7. ^ North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension description and photos
  8. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  9. ^ "Pieris 'Forest Flame'". RHS. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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