Illicium parviflorum 'PIIIP-I'
Summary
UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.
Trials staff were excited to learn a new genus and family when we received a request to evaluate this cultivar. Illicium parviflorum is in the Schisandraceae and according to the NCRS Plants Database is native to Florida and Georgia. Staff had high hopes for this species as the bright yellow-chartreuse color brightened up our shadehouse enough to elicit many inquiries about the plant during its establishment period. In addition to its bold foliage color, the leaves when crushed reminded some participants of Necco wafers, earning it the sobriquet, Dwarf Anise Tree. Unfortunately, this cultivar did not perform well in the trials during the deficit period, with most individuals on the Low treatment perishing between July and August 2018, with the sole survivor succumbing in September. While all of the plants on the High and Moderate irrigation treatments lived to the end of the deficit period, they merely survived, with only several individuals approaching an acceptable overall appearance rating (Table 23a).
Because of the total mortality, the Low treatment is excluded from comparisons. There was no significant difference in relative growth between the High and Moderate treatments, because from April to October the plants did not grow at all. Regarding the aesthetic ratings, neither treatment was significantly different from the other for any of the categories evaluated. During the deficit season, mean and median overall appearance ratings generated from the open house data were mostly below 3 for all treatments at all three events (Table 23b). Due to its humid tropical/subtropical origin, it is the opinion of trials staff that this plant is not well matched to this region’s low humidity and the long dry-down period between irrigation events in this trial.
Basic Info
| Submitted by: | Bailey Nurseries |
| Site(s): | UC Davis |
| Trial Exposure: | 50% Shade |
| Year evaluated: | 2018 |
Height & Width (after 2 years): | 1.1' x 1.2' |
Reported Height & Width (at maturity): | 3-4' x 3-4' |
| WUCOLS plant type: | S |
| Water Needs & WUCOLS Region: | High - Region 2 |
Mean Overall Appearance rating: (1-5 Scale, 5 is highest) | 2.4 |
Flowering Months: | N/A |
Illicium parviflorum ‘PIIIP-I’ BananAppeal® on the Low treatment in September 2018. Photo: SK Reid.
