Description
Hydrangea macrophylla was cultivated and selected for a long time in Japan and China. It was introduced in Europe in 1789-90.
It is a deciduous shrub, with a dense foliage forming a large ball reaching a height of about 1 to 2 m. The opposite leaves can grow to fifteen centimeters in length. They are simple, membranous, orbicular to elliptic and acuminate. They are generally serrate.
The inflorescence of Hydrangea macrophylla is a corymb, with all flowers places in a plane or a hemisphere or even a whole sphere in cultivated forms.
Two distinct types of flowers can be identified: central non-ornamental fertile flowers and peripheral ornamental flowers, usually described as "sterile".
A study of several cultivars showed that all the flowers were fertile but the non-ornamental flowers were pentamers while the decorative flowers were tetramers.
The four sepals of decorative flowers have colors ranging from pale pink, red fuchsia purple to blue. The non-decorative flowers have five small greenish sepals and five small petals. Flowering lasts from early summer to early winter. The fruit is a subglobose capsule.
Read more about this topic: Hydrangea Macrophylla
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“He hath achieved a maid
That paragons description and wild fame;
One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible of civilisation. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that their reformation must be worked, and that Missionaries of that description from [France] would avail more than those who should endeavor to tame them by precepts of religion or philosophy.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)