Rhaphiolepis

Rhaphiolepis

Another pretty flower.

Rhaphiolepis is a flowering genus that is from the family Rosaceae, the family of roses, and the genus is a close relative to loquats.
Rhaphiolepis is an evergreen plant that grows as a small shrub or as big as a small tree, and are generally best grown in full sun.
South East Asia is the native home of Rhaphiolepis, and it can be found in southern Japan, Korea and China, as well as Thailand and Vietnam.
There are fifteen species of Rhaphiolepis, the most common, Rhaphiolepis indica is known as Indian hawthorn, despite being native to China, and is considered as a weed in some areas.
Rhaphiolepis can grow from 60 cm to 10 metres (2 to 32.8 feet) in height, depending on the species.

Rhaphiolepis has five petal flowers that are white to pink in colour, that usually have a sweet smell, and small berries, pomes, that range from purple, blue and black in colour.
In humid environments, Rhaphiolepis is quite vunerable to the disease leaf spot, where dark spots, caused by a fungus, form on the plant’s leaves.
Rhaphiolepis are commonly used as a hedging plant, and Rhaphiolepis indica makes an excellent bonsai specimen.
The hardiest species of Rhaphiolepis, Rhaphiolepis umbellata, is known as Yeddo hawthorn, or Japanese hawthorn, and can withstand temperatures as low as -15 °C (5 °F), strong winds and salt spray, and is native to Japan and Korea.
The fruit of some species of Rhaphiolepis can be cooked into jam, and the bark of the Japanese hawthorn, Rhaphiolepis umbellata is used to make a brown dye.