Gordonia
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 Gordonia lasianthus flower
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About 40 species, including: |
Gordonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, related to Franklinia, Camellia and Stuartia. Of the roughly 40 species, all but one are native to southeast Asia in southern China, Taiwan and Indochina; the remaining species, G. lasianthus (Loblolly Bay), is native to southeast North America, from Virginia south to Florida and west to Louisiana.
They are evergreen trees, growing to 10-20 m tall. The bark is thick and deeply fissured. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, serrated, thick, leathery, glossy, and 6-18 cm long. The flowers are large and conspicuous, 4-15 cm diameter, with 5 (occasionally 6-8) white petals; flowering is in late winter or early spring. The fruit is a dry five-valved capsule, with 1-4 seeds in each section.
The species are adapted to acidic soils, and do not grow well on chalk or other calcium-rich soils. They also have a high rainfall requirement and will not tolerate drought.
Some botanists include Franklinia within Gordonia; it differs in being deciduous and flowering in late summer, not late winter. The draft Flora of China account of Theaceae in China splits Gordonia into two genera, with G. lasianthus retained in Gordonia, and the Asian species transferred to Polyspora; this treatment is not yet widely accepted.
[edit] Cultivation and uses
Several species of Gordonia are grown as ornamental plants for their flowers produced in winter when few other trees are in flower. They are however difficult to grow compared to the similar but generally smaller-growing camellias.
