• Scientific Name: Kolkwitzia amabilis Graebn.
• Ref: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 29:593. 1901
• Synonym: Linnaea amabilis (Graebn.) Christenh.
• English Common Name: beauty bush
• Chinese Common Name: 蝟实/猬实 wèishí
• Japanese Common Name: ショウキウツギ [鍾馗空木] shōkiutsugi
• Family: Caprifoliaceae
• Genus: Kolkwitzia
• Distribution: Mountain slopes, roadsides, scrub; 300-1300 m. Anhui, Gansu, ?Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi. This species is rare in the wild but widely cultivated.
• Photo: 04/24/2019，Hangzhou Botanical Garden, Zhejiang

Shrubs, erect, to 3 m tall. Branchlets hirsute, becoming glabrous. Petiole 1-2 mm; leaf blade elliptic to ovate, 3-8 × 1.5-2.5 cm, both surfaces sparsely pubescent, densely spreading pubescent and ciliate on veins and margin, base rounded or broadly cuneate, margin entire, rarely shallowly dentate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescence paniculate; flowers single or paired (flowers opening consecutively) in same inflorescence; peduncle 10-15 mm; bracts lanceolate, tightly adnate to base of ovary. Sepals 5, lanceolate, to 5 mm, pubescent. Corolla whitish, tinged pink, 15-25 mm, outside pubescent, base very narrow, abruptly enlarged above middle; lower lip 3-lobed, bearded, with orange reticulate markings; upper lip 2-lobed. Ovary bottle-shaped with a long neck; style pubescent; stigmas capitate, inserted. Achenes embedded in spongy, woody, and bristly bracts, apex elongated, crowned with persistent, non-accrescent sepals. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 32*. (Flora of China)

04/22/2016, Hangzhou Botanical Garden

04/22/2016, Hangzhou Botanical Garden

04/22/2016, Hangzhou Botanical Garden

2013.04.28@HZBG