Krohn Conservatory Bonsai #7 - Fukien Tea Tree
Scientific Name:
- Ehretia microphylla
Species
- Fukien Tea Tree
Type of Tree
Bonsai Style:
Bonsai Tree Size:
This Fukien Tea was purchased and then donated by Bonsai Society member Mike Scheid for the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory in 2011. It is an informal upright style.
The pot is oval, glazed, green in color and is 5 inches deep.
These plants occur widely in eastern and south-eastern Asia, from India, Indochina, southern China, and Japan, through Malaysia, including the Australian territory of Christmas Island, the Cape York Peninsula and the Solomon Islands. It has become an invasive weed in Hawaii where it is a popular ornamental plant and where the seeds are thought to be spread by birds.
On the Cape York Peninsula, the plant grows in semi-evergreen vine thickets. On Christmas Island, it favors dry sites on the terraces, and sometimes occurs in rainforest.
Q. What do “circa” and “in training” mean?
A. The circa date is roughly the year when the tree sprouted from its seed. The in training date is the year that it started being “trained” as a bonsai, which is to direct the growth of the tree usually by bending, pruning, and wiring its branches into a desired direction or shape.
Fukien Tea trees (also known as the Philippine tea tree) can be susceptible to scale insects, mealy bugs, and aphids. Treat with horticultural oil or malathion.