Cistus Nursery: Part II

Last post, Cistus Nursery: Part I, we visited the Cistus Nursery and explored the scientific naming or classification of plants as well as got a glimpse of this amazing nursery.

The nursery is divided up into different sections like this section Luarasia. Laurasia is the hypothetical land mass of earth that broke up to create North America, Europe and Asia.

Each section has an enclosed area with lots of lovely jewels.

Last time I focused on the often confusing scientific naming or classification of plants. This small shrub is Buxus mycrophylla var. japonica ‘Variegata’ - dwarf form. Buxus is used for boxwood shrubs, or buxiflorius, buxi for box and florius for foliage. Micro refers to size, small, and phylla can refer to the taxonomic rank in the scientific classification system known also as phylum and japonica denotes where the plant comes from-Japan.   

Like the Arecaceae, also known as Palmae my favorite form of flora, I'm drawn to variegated forms of plants like this dwarf buxus

A popular item in gardens this year are these dahlia's that I know as 'Happy Face' dahlias.

Dahlia coccinae ‘Chocolate Orange’ Asteraceae. Asteraceae (ass-ter-AY-see-ee) is a large family of Angiospermae, flowering plants, that have daisy-like blooms. It is one of the largest family of plants. Coccinae refers to the color scarlett, which lends itself to the pruplish-brown leaves on this dahlia. 

Weigela ‘Looymansii Aurea’ – Diervillaceae. Weigela is  the genus under Caprifoliaceae or Honeysuckle family. There are two different genus: Weigela which comes from East Asia and Diervilla which covers species from North America. 

Trachelospermum asiaticum ‘Hatsyuki’ - Apocynaceae. Apocynaceae also known as the dogbane family contain trees, shrubs and vines. Trachelospermum is also known as star jasmine. What I find interesting about this specimen is the color in the different growth stages of the leaves. 

Eucomis ‘Toffee’ – Liliaceae. Eucomis are commonly known as pineapple flowers or pineapple lilies, and Liliaceae is the lily family. Their blooms often look similar to pineapples.

These pineapple lilies lined the nursery parking lot.

Chamaerops humilis – Arecaceae. I'll finish with one of my favorite families Arecaceae or Palmae, the palm family. Chamaerops humilis is the only species under the genus Chamaerops, the only native palm species of Europe.

This is the second of three posts for the Cistus Nursery. To find out more about Cistus Nursery you can visit their site by clicking here.

I used the following sites to research the names and species of plants in this post as well as The Sunset Western Garden Book: Wiki (Asteraceae), Encyclopædia Britannica (Diervillaceae),Washington State University (Weigela), University of Hawaii (Apocynaceae), Royal Horticultural Society,University of Hawaii (Liliaceae), Royal Horticultural Society (Eucomis) and Palmpedia (Chamaerops)