This unusual evergreen is putting on a a show of flower clusters alongside the Lynch Walk.
The Hamamelis (Hamamelidaceae), or witch hazel, family is renowned for it’s winter flowering genera, which include the familiar witch hazel (Hamamelis), and Persian ironwood (Parrotia). The rarely grown Sycopsis sinensis also belongs to this family, and produces tufted, petal-less flowers comprising numerous stamens held within a brown bract. These are similar to those of the Persian ironwood, though the stamens are yellow in colour. It grows to 6m in height and bears leathery, evergreen foliage. S. sinensis is a native of central China, and was introduced to gardens in 1901 by the plant hunter Ernest Wilson, who collected it for the renowned nursery Messrs Veitch.