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Krohn Conservatory Bonsai #7 - Fukien Tea Tree

Scientific Name:

  • Ehretia microphylla

Species

  • Fukien Tea Tree

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.

Germination Year
1970 (Age: 55 years)
In Training Since
1980 (45 years)
Acquired in
2011
Insect Control

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.