TopTropicals Plant Catalog

This catalog is for information only. If you don't see the price - the plant is not for sale.

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The most popular of the Abelias. An evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub with a rounded, fountain-like growth habit. Fast-growing to 4-8 ft tall and 4-6 ft wide. Fine-textured, glossy, oval, dark green leaves, 2 inches long. New growth has bronze color. Prolific, tiny white with pink sepals tubular flowers (less than 1 inch long) in clusters at stem ends, from summer to fall some times longer. Flowers are slightly fragrant.

The flowers appear in the upper leaf axils and stem ends, 1-8 together in a short cyme; they are pendulous, white to pink, bell-shaped with a five-lobed corolla.

The species from warm climates are evergreen, and colder climate species deciduous.

Species and varieties:

Abelia chinensis

Abelia grandiflora

Valued as an ornamental plant, due to its colorful and attractive flowers. The leaves are alternate, rough, hairy, heart-shaped or 3-5 lobed with serrated margins. Flowers are Hibiscus-like.

Cultivated for aromatic oil from seeds. Young leaves, shoots, and unripe seedpods are cooked as a vegetable.

The Abromeitiella is a succulent plant.Upon growth, they develop as a round-shaped shrub. Succulent plants can also endure long periods of time without watering; usually as the climate gets colder they need less water, however, during the summer months they should be watered abundantly.

Abrus precatorius has small pretty purple flowers located at the end of the stalks. Fruits are short, inflated pods, splitting open when mature to reveal the round; hard and shiny seeds which are scarlet, but black at the base. Seeds contain abrin, one of the most toxic plant poisons known.