Chionanthus retusus Chinese Fringe Tree
Height: 10.00 to 20.00 feet
Spread: 10.00 to 20.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Flowering Tree, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Attracts: Birds
Chionanthus retusus, commonly called Chinese fringetree. As with the native U.S. species (C. virginicus), this plant is noted for its profuse spring bloom of fragrant white flowers. Seen in cultivation as a large, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub growing to 10-20’ tall with a rounded, wide-spreading form. It also may be grown as a small tree (multi-trunked or trained as a single trunk), ultimately reaching up to 30-40’ tall. Terminal clusters of mildly fragrant, pure white flowers with fringe-like petals bloom in late spring to early summer. Bloom appears about 2-3 weeks before that of C. virginicus. Plants are primarily dioecious (separate male and female plants), but some plants may have some perfect flowers. Male flowers are slightly showier. Female flowers (if fertilized) give way to clusters of olive-like fruits (each to 1/2”long) which ripen to a dark bluish black in late summer/fall and are a good food source for birds and wildlife. Lustrous, leathery leaves are ovate to elliptic and 4” long. Leaves are bright green above and whitish-green plus downy beneath. Leaves turn yellow in fall. Exfoliating gray-brown bark is attractive in winter.