Rod Pieris (Pieris) heather family (Ericaceae) includes evergreen shrubs or small trees. Flowers in terminal erect or drooping panicles. Corolla is regular, spine-petal, ovate-lily-shaped, falling off after flowering. The fruit is a capsule, flattened-spherical or ovoid, opening in the nests. Seeds are small, sawdust-like. There are 6 species in the genus, native to North America, East Asia and the Himalayas.
Pieris profusely blooming (Pierisfloribunda)
Homeland - mountains in the east of North America. Evergreen densely branched shrub up to 2 m high (we have 1.2 m), bristly hairy shoots. Leaves ovate-elliptical, 3–8 cm long, sharp, obtuse at the base, ciliate at the edges. Flowers drooping in dense erect panicles 5-10 cm long. Corolla white, ovate-jugular, 5–6 mm long. Blooms in May. The seeds ripen.
Not very winter-hardy, the ends of the shoots freeze slightly, in severe winters it can be damaged to the root collar. Tested 7 samples, now in collection 1, received in 1990 from Salaspils (Latvia).
Japanese pieris (Pierisjaponica) form "Variegata"
Evergreen shrub up to 3 m tall (at home). Leaves ovate-oblong, 3-5 cm long, crenate-toothed along the edge, dark green, shiny, glabrous above, white-bordered along the edge, bright red when blooming. Flowers in dense drooping panicles with a total length of 6–12 cm; corolla is white, 6–8 mm long. Blooms in May. The fruit is a capsule with small seeds.
Little winter-hardy, we do not bloom, without shelter freezes to the root collar. The collection contains 1 specimen, vegetative reproduction from a specimen obtained from Moscow in 2001.
Photo by the author
