This shrub is in the centre of the Chinese and Japanese section.

The pearlbush or common pearlbush is mostly found in China and Japan. The plant gets its common name from its pearl-looking flowers.

Purchased from Hilliers Nursery, Romsey, Hampshire.

A loose, irregular or vase-shaped and upright deciduous shrub. Oblong leaves, about 4 to 6 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. Rounded and toothed at the margin on the top. The flowers are white, have round petals, 12 to 25 stamens, borne in racemes in groups of six to ten; diameter is 4 cm. The flowers give way to brown seed capsules.

First described by John Lindley FRS (1799 – 1865). An English botanist and gardener who specialised in orchids. According to W J Bean ‘Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles’, it was introduced to England in 1909.