Paper Bush                edge-worth-ee-ah pap-i-RIF-er-a

• Broadleaf deciduous shrub, to 5 ft (1.5 m) or more.  Leaves single, alternate, lanceolate to narrow ovate, 8-13 cm long and 2-5 cm wide, entire, dull green, gray-green below with silky hairs when young.  Flowers in clusters of 35 or more at branch tips, slightly fragrant, each flower is about 1.5 cm long, a 4-lobed silky calyx, white on the outside with a yellow center, lacks petals.  Fruit of Edgeworthia is a dry drupe, apparently not often seen of this species?
• Full sun or part shade. Little pruning required.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native to China, in forests and especially by streams.  Used as a source of high grade paper in Japan.
• Therae is some confusion with its nomenclature.  Listed as both a synonym and as distinct from E. chysantha.  The Royal Hort. Soc. Dictionary of Gardening points out that the 3 species of Edgeworthia are "scarcely distinct".  The remaining species is E. gardneri.  (See Daniel Hinkley's comments: http://www.danieljhinkley.com/essay_detail.php?id=28 ).
• Oregon State Univ. campus: north side Hawley dorm. on Jefferson Ave. east of 30th St.
• Portland: Elk Rock, The Garden at the Bishop's Close.