Itea (plant)

Short description: Genus of plants

Itea

Itea ilicifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Plantae
Clade:  | Tracheophytes
Clade:  | Angiosperms
Clade:  | Eudicots
Order:  | Saxifragales
Family:  | Iteaceae
Genus:  | Itea

Type species
Itea virginica

Itea is a genus of about 10 species of shrubs and small trees, commonly called sweetspires. The leaves are alternate. Flowers are small, with 5 sepals and 5 petals, borne in racemes or spikes.

The genus is native to eastern Asia, with one deciduous species from eastern North America.

Some species are grown in ornamental gardens for their long pendant and fragrant flower heads. These include the evergreen I. ilicifolia and I. yunnanensis from central and western China . A different, more upright growing characteristic can be found in the deciduous I. virginica of eastern North America.

Species include:[1]

* Itea chinensis Hook. & Arn. – Chinese sweetspire[2]
* Itea ilicifolia Oliv. – holly-leaved sweet spire
* Itea japonica Oliv. – Japanese sweetspire[3]
* Itea oldhamii C. K. Schneid.
* Itea parviflora Hemsl.
* Itea rhamnoides (Harv.) Kubitzki[4]
* Itea virginica L. – Virginia sweetspire
* Itea yunnanensis Franch.

## References

1. ↑ "GRIN Species Records of Itea". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?6123.
2. ↑ "Itea chinensis". N.C. Cooperative Extension. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/itea-chinensis/.
3. ↑ Flint, Harrison L. (1997). Landscape Plants for Eastern North America. Wiley. pp. 287. ISBN 9780471599197. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1_fAywb_bkC&dq=japanese+sweetspire&pg=PA287.
4. ↑ Mucina, L. (2018). "Classifying Subtropical Forests of South Africa: Data Sources and Methods". Vegetation Survey and Classification of Subtropical Forests of Southern Africa. Geobotany Studies. Springer, Cham. pp. 7–46. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-67831-3_2. ISBN 978-3-319-67830-6. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-67831-3_2. "Nomenclature crosswalk between names used in Mucina et al. (2007) report and the current book. This crosswalk captures nomenclature changes during the period 2007–2017 in South African taxonomic literature. Current name = name in Mucina et al. (2007): Itea rhamnoides = Choristylis rhamnoides"

* European Garden Flora, vol. 4.
* Hillier; Manual of Trees and Shrubs.

Wikidata ☰ Q150306 entry

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