Osmanthus armatus – Multi Stems

One of the large foliaged Osmanthus, these carry leaves with a shape and structure a bit like a thorny holly leaf, though despite the ‘armatus’ part of the name, spines are often absent on mature leaves that are growing on the upper branches. The leathery leaves on young plants can be as much as 15cms in length. These beautiful plants can grow up to 5m x 3m over 20 years, if left to develop as a tree but are quite amenable in mid to late spring to being pruned into a large shrub.

‘Osmanthus’ comes from the Greek with ‘osme’ meaning fragrant and ‘anthos’ meaning flower so it’s no surprise that in the autumn they develop the classic Osmanthus clusters of small, white, tubular, scented flowers. The plants can be male, female or have flowers containing both male and female parts, but it is from the female flowers that the purple-so-dark-it-is-almost-black fruits ripen some six months after flowering.

An easy plant to grow, these are evergreen and hardy and can be planted in any type of well-drained soil. According to the plant hunter Ernest Wilson, who brought the plant back to the UK in 1902, he saw these in Western China growing on humus-clad cliffs and boulders, both in dense shade or fully exposed to sunshine.