mystery Scottish plant

16 years ago

Sorry folks, I am not a gardener, I do not have a picture of the plant in question and I would like to know its name. Here is my description.

It is a native shrub of the Scottish Highlands growing to a hight of at least 3 metres (that's how tall it was in our previous garden).

It is an evergreen.

Its stem has smooth dark/silvery gray bark (the colour and texture is similar to a beech tree's stem).

It has small dark green leaves, each leave is about 2 centimetres long, the surface is shiny and smooth (without any visible lines), leaves grow in an alternate order from each branch (I mean: not pairwise - not sure whether this is the correct botanical term).

In the northern hemisphere the plant flowers in late winter, early spring (around February - about the same time as gorse). The flowers are small, about 2 to 3 cm in diameter, with 5 petals, dark purple, almost black.

This shrub appears to be very hardy - friends had it planted in the windiest place in their garden - which it seemed to love.

However, the most conspicuous feature of this shrub is its smell: very strong, somewhere between wild rose and jasmin - one of the most beautiful fragrances I ever found in a flower. However, as long as there is daylight, the flowers do not smell at all, they only smell at night.

Please, please help. I have tried books, garden centres, etc.

B.

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Comments (5)

mersiepoo
16 years ago
It sounds lovely! Can you post a picture?
flora_uk
16 years ago
My first question would be are you sure it was native? Because it doesn't fit the description of any native British shrub I am aware of. Secondly, were you actually in the Highlands or on the West Coast? The climates would be very different. The only Winter flowering fragrant dark purple shrubs I can think of immediately are Daphnes. But D mezereum is deciduous. The evergreen D odora has pinker flowers. Also they have four petals and are smaller than 2 - 3 cm in diameter. Pittosporum tenuifolium might fit the bill but the flowers are smaller and it is not likely to be hardy in the Highlands. Various Viburnums flower in Winter and are scented, but again the colour is wrong and most scented ones are deciduous. Are you quite certain of all the details you have given? They really don't seem to add up to any shrub I am familiar with in the UK, and certainly not a native. The range of very early flowering scented shrubs is quite restricted and this rings no bells.
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bluemchaen
Original Author
16 years ago
Many thanks flora,
Sorry, I cannot post a picture - wish I could. The reason is: I have seen it near Edinburgh (but I do not live in the UK) at a friend's (or to be precise 'ex-friend's garden). He said it was a native Scottish plant and very hardy because that's what they told him at the local garden centre. Over the years, it had certainly proved to be very hardy growing in an exposed location. So, this was not West coast Scotland (which is very mild, I have been there, they have palm trees in their gardens and do not even have to wrap them up in winter. So, the bit about the plant's origin need to be correct. I think it is not a Daphne species (I know D. mezereum - and my mystery plant does not look remotely like it). What is similar though is how the stem feels when you touch it: quite silky. One thing I forgot to add: it has small dark berries (the colour of elderberries but a bit larger. I have never tasted the berries (otherwise I think I would know whether ti was a Daphne sp.)
The worst bit is: he chopped the plant down in a fit of rage.
B.
flora_uk
16 years ago
Sarcococcas(Christmas box) have dark berries but they don't have purple flowers. Also not 3 metres high. Also not native. In fact I cannot think of a single native shrub with dark purple berries that flowers in winter.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
About the only other possibility might be Sarcococca or sweet box. Flowers are tiny and generally white but some species do have quite dark buds that could appear as purple. It also produces a dark berry-like drupe - don't eat 'em, they're quite poisonous! Flowers are usually present in mid to late winter and extremely fragrant. I prefer them to any daphne. It is not a UK native and hardiness in very exposed conditions in suspect, but as flora states, very fragrant, winter blooming evergreens are a pretty limited group :-) I can't think of anything else that might apply.