193 2 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



KOELREUTERIA PANICULATA 



Koelreuteria paniculata, Laxmann, in Nov. Comm. Acad. Peirop. xvi. 561, L 18 (1772); Loudon, 

 Arb. et Frut. Brit. i. 475 (1838); Hemsley, in Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxiii. 138 (1886); 

 Masters, in Gard. Chron. ii. 563, fig. m (1887); Mottet, in Rev. Hort. lxxviii. 466, fig. 181 

 (1906). 



Koelreuteria paullinioides, L'HeVitier, Sert. Angl. 18, t 19 (1788). 



Koelreuteria chinensis, Hoffmannsegg, Verz. Pfl. 70 (1824). 



Sapindus chinensis, Linnaeus, Syst. Veg. 315 (1774). 



Sapindus sinensis, Gmelin, Syst. Veg. 642 (1796). 



A tree attaining about 60 ft. in height and 6 ft. in girth. Bark 1 smooth at 

 first, becoming scaly on old trunks. Branchlets glabrous. Buds ovoid, about in. 

 long ; outer scales two, glabrous without, villous within, gaping apart in winter ; 

 leaf- scars triangular to semi -orbicular, elevated on projecting pulvini. Leaves 

 unequally pinnate, 6 to 1 2 in. long ; rachis pubescent on the upper side ; leaflets 

 nine to thirteen, opposite or sub-opposite, ovate, i to 3 in. long, sub-sessile ; vari- 

 ously toothed or lobed, the basal lobes occasionally separated by sinuses extending 

 to the midrib ; both surfaces slightly pubescent on the midrib and veins. 



Panicles terminal, large, 6 to 9 in. long, with pubescence slight on the principal 

 and secondary axes, and dense on the pedicels and calyx ; flowers numerous, yellow, 

 clustered in threes, about J in. wide. Fruiting capsules, ripe in autumn, with ovate 

 valves, which are acuminate at the apex, and about 2 to 2^ in. long and 1^ in. wide. 

 Seeds globose or slightly pyriform, about in. in diameter, blackish, shining, only 

 two or three maturing in each capsule. Seedling 2 with two strap-shaped cotyledons 

 raised above ground, followed on the stem by alternate primary leaves, which have 

 three irregularly toothed or lobed leaflets. 



Varieties 



The large deeply cut leaflets, 3 borne by some trees, are probably associated with 

 vigorous growth due to soil and similar conditions, and scarcely indicate a distinct 

 variety. 



A specimen branch with variegated leaves, which does not seem to have been 

 propagated, was sent to Kew in 1885 by Major Alcock Beck from Easthwaite Lodge, 

 Hawkside, Ambleside. 



Distribution 



K. paniculata is a native of northern China, where it is common in the hills 

 around Peking ; and has also been found in the mountains of Shensi, Kansu, and 



1 Schneider, Dend. Winterstud. 40, fig. 47 (1 903), depicts the scaly bark on an old stem. 



8 Cf. Kerner, Nat. Hist. Plants, Eng. trans, i. 9, fig. 1 (1898). 



5 Wyman, in Bailey, Cycl. Amer. Hort. ii. 861 (1900), mentions under the name K. jafonka, Siebold, a form with 

 deeply cut leaflets. Beissner, in Mitt. Deut. Dend. Ges. 1898, p. 424, refers to A', japoiiica, a shrub with a " bipinnate leaf, 

 pubescent beneath," growing in the nursery at Planticres, near Metz, but this is not recognised as a distinct variety in the 

 catalogue of Simon-Louis. Cf. also Hortus Vilmorin. 338 (1906). 



