Pieris floribunda
Species of shrub
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Pieris |
| Species: | P. floribunda |
| Binomial name | |
| Pieris floribunda | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
The mountain fetterbush is less subject to damage from the Azalea lacebug that often infests the related Pieris japonica.
Description
Pieris floribunda is a bushy shrub growing to around 0.9 to 1.8 metres (3 to 6 ft) 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 10 millimetres (1⁄2 in) long in autumn and persisting until late April. The gray-brown bark is shaggy and peeling when mature.[5][6][7]
Distribution
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
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]