Gordonia

Gordonia axillaris

The white, yellow-centered flowers have given rise to rather inelegant common names like "fried egg tree" or "poached egg tree'. A distictive charactieristic is their tendancy to drop from the tree, forming a white and yellow carpet below the bush.

Another Gordonia species in the marketplace in Australia is G. yunnanensis, which may also be seen called Gordonia axillaris 'Yunnanensis' or Polyspora yunnanensis by nurserypersons (and is presumably the Sinopyrenaria yunnanensis referred to by Chih-Hua Tsou and Pyrenaria diospyricarpa by Min Tianlu and Bartholomew)

Two related plants that you will find many references to are the North American species Gordonia lasianthus (retained in Gordonia under the new classification) and Franklinia alatamaha.

Like its relatives the camellias, Gordonia prefer acid soil conditions so use appropriate soil mixes and fertilisers.

This relative of the Camellia has, like so many plants, been the subject of taxonomic revision. Consequently, there is some confusion about names. Previously known as Gordonia anomala, it became Gordonia axillaris. It was reclassified as Polyspora axillaris by some authorities and you also see it called Franklinia axillaris in a few places. Regardless, it will probably still be known in horticultural circles as Gordonia axillaris.

Gordonia in the Landscape

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Gordonia axillaris as a street tree. Brisbane Late April, 2016

 

The carpet of "poached eggs" on the ground is an additional feature of the tree

  
  

There may be more images to come, but there won't be much other content added to the website in the foreseeable future due to the decline of online advertising and the rise of content appropriation by AI bots,. High quality, in-depth information is now being directed towards the email publication (mini-magazine) Get Results Gardening. If you live in Australia and would like to see a copy of the 09-04-2021 edition, which contained an article about Gordonia, ask for it in the body of your email message when you request a free trial. More information here: calyx.com.au/getresultsgardening.html

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