Abroma augusta 'Devil's Cotton'

 

 

CLIK name to see video Abroma augustum

---

Abroma augustum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Abroma
Species:	A. augustum
Binomial name
Abroma augustum (L.) L.f.
Synonyms[1]
Abroma alata Blanco Abroma angulata Lam. Abroma angulosa Poir. Abroma communis Blanco Abroma denticulata Miq. Abroma elongata Lam. Abroma fastuosum Jacq.[citation needed] Abroma javanica Miq. Abroma mariae Mart. Abroma mollis DC. Abroma obliqua C.Presl Abroma sinuosa G.Nicholson Abroma wheleri Retz. Ambroma augustum (L.) L. f. Herrania mariae (Mart.) Decne. ex Goudot Theobroma augustum L. Theobroma mariae (Mart.) K. Schum.

Abroma augustum, sometimes written Abroma augusta,^[2] Devil's cotton, is a species of Abroma (Sterculiaceae, or Malvaceae in some classifications). It has dark red flowers with an characteristic and unusual appearance. It is widely distributed in Asia. It grows very well almost all over the planet. It thrives in the Southern and South eastern area of Louisiana. 

It tolerates the hot and humid Summers and thrives.

The leaves and stems are covered with soft bristly hairs that are very irritating to the touch. The bark yields a jute-like fiber.

The species was first described, as Theobroma augustum (or Theobroma augusta) by Carl Linnaeus in 1768.^[3]

Cultivation

In the Summer months the plant blooms. The flowers do resemble those of Abutilon species.

In the greenhouse, plants bloom from late spring to early summer. Dark maroon flowers are formed in terminal panicles. Individual flowers are up to 3 inches (7.5 cm) across.

Abroma augustum is propagated from seed. Seed germinate in 21–30 days at 72 °F (24 °C).

 

Abelia species in deep South-July 2023 Dwarf and non dwarf species

Abelia is a great shrub and it is even greater for bees.

This is a video of a dwarf Abelia which is not doing great in the Summer heat. A dwarf variety.

(  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DEaU6gjJ_-o ). Direct link for study.

This is a great specimen for an Abelia. It is over 6 feet in height. It is a massive array of limbs and blooms. Bees' can be seen and heard on this plant. This is a great evergreen shrub for any landscape. 

Abelia shrub with bees. Click link

Abelia

35 languages

• Article
• Talk

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Tools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abelia chinensis

Abelia /əˈbiːliə/^[1] is a previously recognized genus that contained about 30 species and hybrids, placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that the genus was not monophyletic, and in 2013, Maarten Christenhusz proposed the merger of Abelia (excluding section Zabelia) into Linnaea, along with some other genera. Abelia section Zabelia was raised to the genus Zabelia.^[2]

Description[edit]

Species formerly placed in Abelia are shrubs from 1–6 m tall, native to eastern Asia (Japan west to the Himalaya) and southern North America (Mexico); the species from warm climates are evergreen, and colder climate species deciduous. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, ovate, glossy, dark green, 1.5–8 cm long, turning purplish-bronze to red in autumn in the deciduous species. The flowers appear in the upper leaf axils and stem ends, 1-8 together in a short cyme; they are pendulous, white to pink, bell-shaped with a five-lobed corolla, 1–5 cm long, and usually scented. Flowering continues over a long and continuous period from late spring to fall.

Some of these species are cultivated as ornamental garden plants, and may still be described as Abelia in horticultural listings. A notable example is the hybrid Abelia × grandiflora (now Linnaea × grandiflora).

Taxonomy[edit]

The generic name commemorates Clarke Abel, a keen naturalist who accompanied Lord Amherst's unsuccessful embassy to China in 1816 as a surgeon, under the sponsorship of Sir Joseph Banks. All of Abel's seeds and plants were lost in a shipwreck on the homeward voyage, however; living plants of Abelia chinensis (now Linnaea chinensis) were first imported to England in 1844 by Robert Fortune.^[3]

Some species placed in Abelia were transferred to Linnaea at various times from 1872 onwards, but these transfers were not accepted by most botanists. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that a number of genera traditionally placed in the tribe Linnaeeae were closely related, but that Abelia was not monophyletic, even with Abelia section Zabelia split off as a separate genus Zabelia. In 2013, Maarten Christenhusz proposed that Abelia and related genera be merged into Linnaea.^[2] This proposal has been adopted by recent sources, including the Plants of the World Online.^[4][5]

Allergenicity[edit]

Abelia has an OPALS allergy scale rating of 5 out of 10, indicating moderate potential to cause allergic reactions, exacerbated by over-use of the same plant throughout a garden.^[6] People allergic to honeysuckle may experience cross-reactive allergic reactions with Abelia.^[6]

LSU Agricultural Center Field Day - July 2023 - opening scene of the day

 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rxpq37Ok2ZE

 

 

LSU Agriculture Center Hammond Research Station Field day June-21-2023- AGAVE oyatifolia-Whale's Tongue Agave

 Whales Tongue pics and video

HUMMER HAVEN- Abita Springs, Louisiana

 My family has been part of the world of wholesale nurseries and greenhouses and exotic birds and photography for several generations.

 

 

Maybe more about that in the near future.

I am starting a YouTube channel. It will be used to see the places we go to and the botanical wonders we come across.

Here are some videos I took with a phone camera in 2020 . The family estate was sold after my last parent died. We kept it for a year and a half. It was 10 city blocks of property that went down to a white sand beach and a small river. It had massively huge

Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum.

 

It will be my first official posting of external videos attached to my YouTube channel.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLyjrC2muCDPDcsDLHIxnr9pv6iY09uLp

 

Here is to a new future.

My birthday will be August 12th, 2023.

I will have survived to have the 65th anniversary of my being born.  

It could not have been done without my family, dead and present. My friends, dead and present, and my wonderful husband of 25 years, Stefan. 

Thank you all.

Now, I eagerly look to the future and seeing and participating in all the botanical and horticultural events I can do in the time before me.

 

It is coming back. August 1st, 2023, the Southern Horticulturalist is returning.

 It has been a very long time. After I was made to move out of my home of 25 years, and taking a pause from my blog, I will begin posting more content after August 1, 2023.

 

 

The end of an era

After almost 25 years investing into this garden and the house and the property, it has regretfully come to an end.
 The home sold to a stranger  who has let the gardens die and become ruined. It is always sad when I take time to drive by and see how much has suffered.