Visitors can expect to see a rare flowering event at the Sonoma Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen in the coming weeks, as one of the garden’s most unusual trees prepares for a mass bloom.
Botanical garden officials say one of its Emmenopterys henryi specimens is likely to begin blooming next week, with the display expected to last about three weeks, weather permitting.
Large blooms of the species are rare, and while some flowers may appear in certain years, abundant flowering is uncommon. The last significant bloom at the garden was recorded in July 2022.
Known for its clusters of creamy white blossoms, enlarged white sepals and jasmine-like fragrance, Emmenopterys henryi, which is also known by the names Chinese Emmenopterys, Henry’s Emmenopterys, Henry’s tree, or the Man Yang, is considered one of the world’s most beautiful flowering trees.
“This is one of those plants that captivates both botanists and casual visitors alike,” said Michael Wenzel, curator at the garden, in a news release.
“It’s not just rare — it’s elegant, fragrant, and unlike almost any other temperate tree in the world.”
Rare in cultivation and near-threatened in the wild, it is the only species in its genus and is classified as a “Tertiary Relic,” a living remnant of ancient forests that once stretched across the Northern Hemisphere.
The tree is located near the garden’s central crossroads, where visitors can view blooms that range from the tree’s lower branches to more than 30 feet into the air.
Sonoma Botanical Garden’s five Emmenopterys trees have long attracted interest from horticulturists.
The seeds used to grow the trees were collected during a 1996 expedition to eastern Sichuan, China, in partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Howick Arboretum.
When two of the garden’s trees first flowered in 2004 at just 6 years old, they were believed to be among the youngest Emmenopterys ever to bloom in cultivation and among the first to flower in western North America.
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