Viburnum cinnamomifolium Burkwood & Skipwith with five silky petals cupping

with five silky petals cupping a golden crown of stamens

the shrub is something of a collector's find

As a wild-collected

Brilliant orange-red fall color

growing slowly into a stately shade tree of forty to sixty feet or more

Viburnum cinnamomifolium Burkwood & Skipwith with five silky petals cuppingThe cinnamon leaf viburnum is one of the great broadleaf evergreens of the genus, a substantial, dignified shrub from the mountain forests of western China, where mist gathers in the valleys and plants grow with quiet endurance. The species name cinnamomifolium means leaves like cinnamon, for the large, glossy, deeply triple veined leaves that echo those of a true cinnamon tree, tooled and leathery as fine bookbinding. This is a plant that holds the