Deppea splendens in bloom now for the first time in my garden.

[Whateverist]

I was given this very rare plant while on a tour of a fellow Hortisexual's garden in Santa Cruz. The plant was only discovered less than 50 years ago and was nearly lost to extinction.

History.

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Once native to Chiapas, Mexico, Deppea splendens is now thought to be extinct in the wild. Dr. Dennis Breedlove, former Curator in the Botany Department at the California Academy of Sciences discovered it in 1972 in Chiapas, Mexico. Ranging from heights of 15–25 feet, it appeared as either a large shrub or small tree and was found in a steep canyon cloud forest with magnolias, pines and oaks at 6600 feet elevation.

Breedlove, who spent over 30 years studying the flora of Chiapas, brought back seeds of the Deppea in 1981. They were distributed and grown at SFBG and other California botanical gardens and nurseries. Most plants perished during the freeze of 1990, however one of our plants survived and cuttings were distributed to enable continued propagation.

Breedlove reported in 1986 that the only known site for Deppea in Chiapas had been cleared for farming and the plant was presumed extinct in the wild. For all the interest and attention, this spectacular plant was not formally named and described until 1987.

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My photos here do not do it justice as I took them in too much shade early this morning. I hope I can make it happy.



More photos.

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I've got it growing in a deep metal planter set into the deck I built around the hot tub.


The area of the garden just over the fence from where it is growing.

A detail.

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