Enkianthus campanulatus var. palibinii("Benisarasadodan")
Japanese name: ベニサラサドウダン（紅更紗燈台） Scientific name:Enkianthus campanulatus var. palibinii
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 2–5 m tall, found on rocky sites in the mountains.
The leaves are simple and alternate, clustered at the branch tips, obovate, 2–5 cm long and 1–2 cm wide.
The leaf margin has fine serrations whose tips become hairs.
A short raceme 2–3 cm long at the branch tip bears about 10 flowers that open downward.
The corolla is bell-shaped, 0.5–0.6 cm long, crimson with darker crimson vertical stripes.
The corolla is shallowly 5-lobed, and the lobes are rounded at the tip.
Some plants have paler flowers.
The fruit is a broadly elliptic capsule 0.5–0.6 cm long, borne upright.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained site.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long sunny spell and the soil dries out.
If the plant runs short of water from early summer to summer, when the flower buds form, it may not flower the following year, so take special care against drying at this time.
Apply slow-release fertilizer around the base of the plant twice, in spring and autumn.
Do not prune; grow it in its natural form.
Pests include scale insects and spider mites.
