Mahonia eurybracteata ssp. ganpinensis threadleaf mahonia, Oregon grape
Mahonia
Threadleaf mahonia (Oregon grape) is a Chinese taxon formerly known as mahonia confusa. Perhaps only with it rising popularity thanks to newly invented varieties its name was changed to m.eurybracteata. The first successful varieties were Narihira, Soft Caress, and Sweet Winter.
Ganpinensis is a threadleaf mahonia subspecies with the narrowest leaves. There is an assumption that it might be the identical plant to the American variety SOFT CARESS selected by Karen Reiter Stever. She claims that she found it among many seedlings of unnamed mahonia sp. in 2001 and selected it primarily for its unique thread-like foliage, a characteristic that is not known to exist in species and cultivars of Mahonia known by then. Could it be that she was not aware of this Chinese subspecies? In any case it is a beautiful plant worth introducing.
It bears evergreen leaves, only some 1 cm wide, leathery yet soft to touch, glossy, dark green when mature and copper orange as they emerge. They form loose fronds on an airy shrub. In autumn unroll 10-20 cm tall, upright racemes composed of small, bright yellow, fragrant flowers. If pollinated, they are followed by purple blue, edible berries that taste like barberry berries. If the autumn is cold, flowers wait with opening until warmer parts of late winter or spring.
It grows moderately into a dense shrub about 1.5m tall and wide. It loves a bit of sun and midday shade, or partial shade all day long. Plants grown in full sun set more flowers but are prone to sunscorch in colder climates. Still, they regenerate readily after spring pruning. This mahonia will be a jewel among other large-leaved evergreens and a fine-textured understory of mid-sized trees providing filtered sunlight.
Threadleaf mahonia requires fertile soil of any pH (acidic, neutral, and alkaline). It likes constantly moist but well-drained soil. We experienced the best results with acidic soil where its foliage produced the richest colour. It does not like drought so keep it mulched all year long. Its hardiness has been tested to -18 °C (USDA zone 7) so far, and we continue with hardiness trials as we believe it might take a few degrees lower.
Last update 09-10-2023
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
