Plant of the day is: Prinsepia sinensis or cherry prinsepia
Sometimes the plant and the homework find me. This is kind of a formal greeting before I get a handshake on it in a few days and hold a few of these seeds. Let's take a journey to Eastern Asia, Northern China and Manchuria shall we?
Sadly another plant with extremely limited pictures available through creative commons.
Taxonomy etc. A member of the Rose family, won't spend a lot of time on that as there is plenty of readily available information on the family. Again, another relatively small genus of only 4 accepted species (according to theplantlist.org). The species are found in India, China, Bangladesh and Taiwan. P. sinensis is a standout in the group for its cold hardiness which is reportedly around zone 4 or -32 degrees C. The genus is named for James Prinsep who left England with almost no money to come to India and become a successful indigo planter. He then established himself as an East india merchant, basically the Hydra of the age. Nobody is perfect, but he did a lot of good things. The botanist John Forbes Royle named the genus after him in 1839 in appreciation of his work.
Description: A deciduous shrub up to 2-3m tall by 2 m wide with a roundish form. It has some spines that are about 6-10mm long and leafless. Alternate leaves with very short petioles and purplish red, ovoid, and glabrous winter buds. Leaves are narrow ovate-lanceolate or elliptic. Dark green on top and lighter green on the bottom. Base of leaf is cuneate. The inflorescence is a 3-flowered fascicle. Not an icicle. A fascicle. Basically a bundle of leaves or flowers. The best example to demonstrate is the needles on pines, those would be leaf fascicles and these are flower fascicles. Fascinating. The result is clusters of yellow flowers that trail along the stems, somewhat partially hidden by the foliage but still noticeable and aromatic. It flowers around Apr to May and seeds ripen in Aug to September (give or take a month or two depending on where you live). Flowers are pollinated by insects. Fruits are red drupes that are cherry-like and edible if a little sour. Can be a good jam/preserves plant. Noted for very high ascorbic acid content (good stuff).
Culture: Takes full sun and a little shade, but really, prefers a good sunny spot with moist soil. Reportedly very cold and drought tolerant though, so who knows, hopefully I'll find out. Reportedly leafs out very early in the season and flowers as well but flowers and leaves handle hard freezes well without damage. Interestingly one site recommended pruning in late winter, this would be counter productive if it indeed flowers early because it would likely flower on old growth formed the previous year and you'd basically be chopping off all the flower buds. Carandale farm in Wisconsin did evaluate this plant and then removed it because of invasive concerns. It IS a fruit that could be ingested by birds and that certainly raises concern for any non-native plant.
Propagation: Soak in water for 24 hours. A 2 month cold stratification is recommended from seed and it can likely be propagated from cuttings as well. Sow seed about 1/4" depth as light can inhibit germination. Kew's database only contains info for P. utilis and an "uncertain" for seed storage. Unsure if it is orthodox or recalcitrant. I would lean towards orthodox given it's temperate climate and the family.
Range: I kinda mentioned, Manchuria is a good place to find but parts of eastern Russia as well I think.
Fun fact: Seriously, the seeds look cool. Very ...groovy? I'll update this with a picture when I get one.
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