Arboretum Foundation

Flowers, understandably, receive the bulk of the attention during the spring season at the Arboretum, but the new leaves of many plants can have their own distinct beauty. Here’s just a sampling:

1. Golden linden, Tilia endochrysea, native to China, in lower Rhododendron Glen. Like the new foliage of many plants, golden linden’s spring leaves emerge red, due to the presence of the pigment anthocyanin, which may perform a variety of protective functions, such as shielding the immature foliage from UV rays. The tree is extremely rare in cultivation; our specimen came from plant explorer Dan Hinkley at Windcliff Nursey in 2022.

2. Wang’s chestnut, Aesculus wangii, a rare species from Vietnam, just south of the Woodland Garden. This specimen was also a gift from Dan Hinkley, who wrote about the species for the spring 2025 issue of our botanical magazine.

https://arboretumfoundation.org/2025/05/17/wangs-chestnut/

3. The stunning foliage bud scales of Rhododendron hemsleyanum in the future China Forest area along the Arboretum Loop. Endemic to Mt Omei in Szechwan, the species is critically endangered in its home range. Our specimen came from the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in 2018.

4. Looking a little like a young xenomorph from the Alien franchise, this is the new leaf of a Chilean rhubarb, Gunnera tinctoria, in the restored stream bank of lower Rhododendron Glen. The young stalks are edible and traditionally consumed in the plant’s homeland of southern Chile and Argentina. They are said to have a mild, tangy, rhubarb flavor.

5. The red new foliage of temple bells, Pieris ryukyunensis, in lower Rhododendron Glen. An elegant evergreen shrub native to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, it produces snow-white lily-of-the-valley-like flowers in late winter. This specimen was also sourced from Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden.

6. Emmenopterys henryi, a large deciduous tree from southern China and Vietnam, in lower Rhododendron Glen. The fragrant, white, trumpet-shaped flowers are spectacular but (frustratingly for gardeners) rarely emerge on cultivated plants. Our specimen was wild collected by Dan Hinkley in 2015.

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www.wagives.org/organization/arboretum-foundation-1