thumb|Deutzia crenata by [[Abraham Jacobus Wendel, 1868]]

Deutzia ( or ) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to eastern and central Asia (from the Himalayas east to Japan and the Philippines), and Central America and also Europe. By far the highest species diversity is in China, where 50 species occur.

Description

The species are shrubs ranging from in height.

  • Deutzia parviflora - Mongolian deutzia
  • Deutzia pilosa
  • Deutzia pulchra
  • Deutzia purpurascens
  • Deutzia reflexa
  • Deutzia rehderiana
  • Deutzia rubens
  • Deutzia scabra - Fuzzy deutzia
  • Deutzia schneideriana
  • Deutzia setchuenensis
  • Deutzia silvestrii
  • Deutzia squamosa
  • Deutzia staminea
  • Deutzia subulata
  • Deutzia taibaiensis
  • Deutzia taiwanensis
  • Deutzia uniflora – Korean deutzia

Deutzias are commonly grown as ornamental plants for their white and pink flowers. Many cultivars and hybrids have been selected for garden use, including selections with double flowers. For example, Deutzia × lemoinei is a hybrid of D. gracilis and D. parviflora. The following cultivars and hybrids have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

  • Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko'
  • Deutzia monbeigii
  • Deutzia scabra 'Candidissima'
  • Deutzia scabra 'Codsall Pink'
  • Deutzia setchuenensis var. corymbiflora
  • Deutzia × elegantissima 'Rosealind'
  • Deutzia × hybrida 'Contraste'
  • Deutzia × hybrida 'Mont Rose'
  • Deutzia × hybrida 'Strawberry Fields'

The temperate deutzias are mostly hardy shrubs from East Asia where winters are dependably frozen; in milder climates, like much of England, the early-flowering species and hybrids are coaxed into premature bloom by mild spells, then spoilt by frost. Alice Coats remarks that deutzias have done better in Edinburgh, on the chilly east coast of Scotland, than in London. A solution in milder climates might be to site deutzia in the garden's most exposed, coldest microclimate, as is often done with early-flowering magnolias.

Identification can be difficult, and in particular, many of the plants in cultivation sold as D. scabra are actually D. crenata (Huxley 1992). The selected hybrid white double "Pride-of-Rochester", already in cultivation in 1881, was originated by the Rochester, New York nurserymen Ellwanger and Barry.

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Deutzia scabra A.jpg|Deutzia scabra

Deutzia scabra plena.jpg|Deutzia crenata 'Plena', a double-flowered cultivar

20140612 UBCBG Deutzia Hookeriana.jpg|Deutzia hookeriana at UBC Botanical Garden

</gallery>

References

  • Flora of Pakistan: Deutzia
  • Flora of Nepal checklist: Deutzia