Persian Parrotia is one of our gardens’ most interesting woody plants.
Brilliant foliage coloration makes this tall shrub or small tree particularly distinctive in the autumn.
Parrotia: Witch-Hazel Family
Parrotia is a member of the witch-hazel family bearing close resemblance to these winter-blooming shrubs and fothergillas.
Like other hardy and interesting plants in this family, parrotias are not generally known, and though offered by some nurseries, they are virtually never seen in home gardens.
Parrotia Persica
Botanists now feel that Parrotia persica, the small tree native to northern Persia and the Caucasus, is the only species of this genus in the world.
Although its flowers are scarcely showy, beautiful bark and fine autumn coloration make the plant a valuable acquisition for discerning gardeners.
A magnificent specimen in Kissena Park in Flushing attests that the famous Long Island horticulturist, Samuel Parsons, considered Parrotia a distinctive subject for American gardens. He was probably the first to bring the species to America.
Parrotia Plants Characteristics
Parrotias usually develop into bushy small trees 12’ to 15’ feet high and somewhat more spread.
Occasionally a plant growing in a favored location or one long-established surpasses 25’ feet.
Several specimens are thriving at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and one patriarch attained a height of more than 30’ feet.
This site is unusual, however, and the smaller plants in this splendid collection or the densely branched bushy specimen at Highland Park in Rochester, New York, may be taken as more typical.
Their smooth bark loosens in irregular dark grayish flakes, often from 1” to 3” inches across, and these drop off to show paler new bark beneath.
As this process is continuous, a most interesting pattern results. This unusual bark makes the plants especially attractive near a walk or in some situations where they will be seen in winter.
Flowering Season
Parrotia flower in March and April, before the leaves appear, and they thus contribute to the modest early roster of such hardy subjects as leatherwood, February daphne.
Japanese witch-hazel starts the garden season and leads to the brilliant displays of mid-spring.
Lack Of Petas And Corolla Parts
Petals and showy corolla parts are lacking, but much charm and attractiveness rest in the conspicuous reddish stamens surrounded by velvety brownish and green bracts.
With early spring sunshine lighting up the branches, the abundantly produced flower clusters, each about ½” an inch across, make an unusual and pleasing picture.
Witch-Hazel Leaves
The leaves of parrotias resemble those of the witch-hazels, but they show interesting differences examined carefully.
They are from 3” to 5” inches long, obovate in outline, and arranged alternately on the shoots.
Midrib and veins extend upward through the leaves in a willowware-china sort of pattern, and in the smaller angles at the forkings, a small pocket of vein tissue is usually developed.
Broadleaved plants rarely show this detail of streamlined design, and its origin and function lead to interesting surmise.
However, these matters of structure and efficiency may be answered.
It is more pertinent to home gardeners that the leaves give an unusually brilliant and lasting display of color at this time of the year.
Transition Of Colors
The transition ranges from greenish and gold to orange and scarlet before the chemical changes are complete, and the display often lasts well into November.
Naturally, this may vary with weather and environment.
Parrotias are of strong constitution, withstanding temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit without damage.
Thrive In Well-Drained Soil
They thrive in almost any well-drained soil, but it has been demonstrated that one rich in organic matter and of at least moderate fertility produces the best growth.
So that the delicate flowers are not battered and whipped by March winds, it is well to plant them in a protected situation whenever possible.
Often exposure to the south or southeast, against the wall or at an angle of a building, provides a suitable spot, but the plant’s ultimate size should be kept in mind in such a location.
Temporary Associates
Spireas, mock oranges, or other run-of-the-mill subjects can serve as temporary associates around a featured specimen of Parrotia during the first years it is becoming established.
Such a grouping does not in the least belittle the very great beauty and the value of these more common subjects.
Artistic Composition: Reduce The Cost of Planting
It is merely a practical solution for reducing the cost of planting and ensuring the early development of artistic composition and its dignified maturity.
Unless moved with a solid ball of soil around the roots, parrotias are best planted in the spring.
Lead Mold For Mulching
Compost or leaf mold should be used liberally, particularly as a mulch, to keep the roots cool and evenly moist until they become well established.
Plant pests and diseases seem to affect this species very little.
A subject as unusual as Persian Parrotia is almost sure to be used as a single specimen in garden plantings.
A plant used in this way blends well in mixed shrub plantings and shows up to excellent advantage in a border or even in foundation plantings where the size is appropriate.
Parrotia: Dr. Johann von Parrot
To return to the cold facts of history, it is interesting to recall that Parrotia was so named to commemorate Dr. Johann von Parrot, a German naturalist employed by Tsar Nicolas I of Russia to make an expedition to the top of Mount Ararat.
Dr. Parrot is credited with being the first to climb the perpetual cap of ice, masking the famous summit in September 1829.
The sturdy bush or small tree is known as ironwood by the people of the Armenian Plateau because its sinewy wood was among the scientific collections brought back to St. Petersburg by the expedition.
Parrotia: Rare In Gardens
Plant fashions are so strange and unpredictable today, some 120 years later.
Parrotias are still objects of great rarity in our gardens, though they have more to commend than scores of woody plants disseminated by the thousands.
44659 by Ben Blackburn