Daphniphyllum is a very rare barely heard of Broad Leaf Evergreen shrub that is extremely attractive, with long dark green leaves and bright red petioles that really shine out in the winter time!
We originally bought a single Daphniphyllum macropodum many years ago from a mail order nursery, that plant has grown into a small tree by our barn and has large evergreen foliage with big red petioles that are very attractive in winter! Macropodum means large foot which probably means the petiole or foot of the large leaf is big! This Rhododendron looking shrub can grow quite large, over 30-40' over a very long time in shade, and because of this, it would have great potential as a small under wires street tree for forward thinking municipalities that have challenges with under wire trees, and trees that damage sidewalks!
We received a seed collection permit about 10 years ago from the US National Arboretum and collected a handful of seeds from Daphniphyllum humile which is almost the exact same plant as D. macropodum just a bit smaller in leaf and a much smaller ultimate size. From the seed we collected we have 10 plants in our garden that vary greatly, some being fat and medium size, several seeming to be larger and faster growing and 2 specimens that seem very short and spreading! These small ones are the more desirable since so many gardens now in our area are smaller and more compact, and a nice broad leaf evergreen shrub that stays under control is quite nice and there is a niche for such shrubs. But due to this plants funny name, and no real common name, sales are of it are very slow as it's so rare that people don't really know anything about it and will often pass. However we have had a few crops in the past and many people did take the opportunity to have a very rare shrub in their gardens! Pictured to the right and below are the seeds on the bush and seeds in a baggy that we propagated this year. We have also rooted cuttings of the main plants in our collection and will focus on the smaller ones to bring to our customers in the future so keep your eyes peeled for us to offer these plants in a small size this summer!
One notable thing about it is deer do not seem to touch it here in our garden. We have them in 3 different places and while surrounding plants have shown ample evidence of severe browsing by deer, none have ever touched our plants. It is strongly cold hardy in our zone 7a/6b location and should be fully hardy in all of zone 6 if sited properly protected from full sun and wind if possible in the colder reaches of zone 6 (-10F) Our plants have most certainly had glimpses of the coldest zone 6 temps and maybe even colder in our cold sink pine barrens like conditions out back where the temperature routinely plummets much colder than a normal non cold microclimate. So next time you are at Triple Oaks, ask to see the Daphniphyllum plants in our garden!
