Eucryphia x nymansensis ‘Nymansay’

This one is a hybrid which emerged from Trengwainton Gardens in Cornwall. It’s a cross between two taller parents from the southern hemisphere; E. cordifolia from the temperate rainforests of Chile and E. lucida from Tasmania.

Whenever we have a long hot summer, the office is flooded with enquiries about Eucryphia x nymansensis ‘Nymansay’. Vigorous in growth, with clean-cut oblong-ish glossy leaves with wavy edges that are dark green above and silvery below. Its hybrid vigour gives it rather bigger leaves and flowers than either of its parents: the flowers are quite dishy too, bright white and four-petalled, filled with a starburst of orange stamens.

This Eucryphia will tolerate less acidic soils better than most but bear in mind that tolerating doesn’t mean thriving. They’ll manage. If, however you’ve some deeply rich and deeply ericaceous stuff to plunge into though, this plant is magnificent.

We find it best sited in a sheltered spot away from cold winds. Being of temperate rainforest origins and accustomed to a jostling, thicket-y lifestyle where abundant secondary growth keeps the soil cool, you can imagine it being a very happy camper planted in loose groups or among taller, heftier neighbours who will protect it. Cool and moist is what you’re aiming for, at least for the roots.

Often listed as being suited to only the warmest and most Southern gardens but if your plot has a cosy microclimate away from chilly and drying winds then absolutely have a go. If you’ve got one established and happy north of the Midlands please get in touch. The tallest known specimen we’re aware of is still growing at 22m, but it has taken over a century to do so.

This is an adaptable tree that is now cultivated in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand but whose origins lie in Nymans Garden in West Sussex. In the early 1900s there were two Chilean Eucryphias growing there, E. Cordifolia and E. glutinosa and this is the result of a naturally occurring garden cross. In 1909 E. glutinosa flowered and produced seed and two of the resultant seedlings, temporarily named A and B, were grown on. Seedling A is the one we see today as the cultivar ‘Nymansay’ and it carries a mix of both parents. The leaves can be simple, as in E. cordifolia, trifoliate as in E. glutinosa or a combination of the two.