Edgeworthia or Paperbark Plant. I cannot think of any other plant that gets me more excited about its winter display than this plant. I don't think there is any plant that we grow that we have had more requests to release than this one either. It attracts endless attention in our garden every winter. This is a close relative of Daphne in the family Thymelaceaceae and produces 2" terminal umbels of yellow narcissus-scented flowers from late January through February, and with a colder winter, on into March, resembling a giant yellow Daphne. Dr. Steven Jeffers of Clemson University reports, "The genus Edgeworthia displays a unique and novel type of trichotomous vegetative branching that “has never been reported in any other species” (Iwamoto, et al. 2005.). In Japan, this species is known as mitsumata, which means triple branching (Clennett et al. 2002)." This observation means that at the terminus of a branch, succeeding branches will be in "threes". The terminal flower buds are formed in late summer and remain prominent, being a point of interest throughout the winter. We have made a great effort to find the best clone of this plant to offer. There are many on the market, but we feel that this one is the best. John Elsley, whom I consider one of the premier gardeners of America says that every southern garden needs an Edgeworthia. This species is far superior in ALL respects to E. papyrifera, which gets the typical daphne malady of being beautiful today and dead tomorrow. Grow in the same conditions as one would a big leaf Hydrangea, filtered sun with adequate moisture and good drainage. Many of our customers in north Florida says that it is one of their best performers in the garden. We had a visiting group from China several years ago, and they were so excited to see us growing this species. They emphasized that the best paper in the world is made from the bark of this plant, and that orchards of Edgeworthia are grown in China for this purpose. The plants are cut to the ground each fall when the branches are stripped for the manufacturing process. They reported that all official documents in China are on paper made from Edgeworthia, hence one of its common names is Paperbark Plant..
