Bee Tree (Evodia Danielii) 20 seeds (#174)

They are attractive trees with deciduous glossy pinnate leaves. Develops a smooth gray bark that resembles that of a beech tree and grows to a height of 8 m. The leaves resemble the foliage of an ash tree and are a glossy dark green in summer. In fall there is little color change and leaves tend to drop green to yellow-green. The tree is covered in late July and August with masses of large flat white to gray cluster of small rose flowers, particularly valued when few other tree-size plants are flowering. It attracts large numbers of bees and is sought after by beekeepers as a source of late summer honey. The flowers produce clusters of seed that is present from late August through November. The seeds start as bright red capsules that when fully ripe open to expose shiny black buckshot seed as Autumn progresses. The small, red-to-black berries are popular with many birds.
This tree has lovely broad heads of rose flowers in August. The flowers are freely produced and a specimen in full flower is a striking sight. If the tree is female there are red-brown berries in October. The tree is spreading, with large oblong leaves, curved up at their edges and held in pairs on dark pink stalks. The bark of a mature tree is smooth and grey.
An easily grown plant, preferring a good loamy soil. According to one report, this species is not cold-hardy in temperate zones, though a large healthy tree (planted in 1934) was seen growing at Kew in 1989.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Genus - Evodia
Species - Danielii
Common name - Bee Tree
Pre-Treatment - Not-required, but recommended
Hardiness zones - 5 - 8
Height - 5 - 8 m
Spread - 6 - 12 m
Plant type - Tree
Vegetation type - Deciduous
Exposure - Full sun
Growth rate - Medium
Soil PH - 6.1 - 7.8 (mildly acidic - neutral - mildly alkaline)
Soil type - Clay, loam, well drained
Water requirements - Average, moist
Landscape uses - Bee tree, large shade tree, park street tree
Bloom season - Late Spring/Early Summer / Mid Summer
Leaf / Flower color - Green / rose

GERMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. Soak seed 24 hours.
2. Recommended: cold/moist stratify in moist peat/sand or vermiculite for 1-2 months (wrapping seed in a moistened coffee filter will prevent fine seed from being 'lost' in the medium).
3. Prepare deep pot for nursery sowing and surface sow. Mist seed into prepared surface.
4. May need light to germinate so barely cover. Keep moist with a plastic cover or something similar. Keep light and warm.
Alternately sow outdoors in the fall or early winter. Sow thinly. Germinates readily at +20C. Fast grower and transplants well.