Chimonanthus praecox

Chimonanthus praecox, also known as wintersweet^[1] and Japanese allspice,^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the genus Chimonanthus of the family Calycanthaceae. The plant is native to China and is known as làméi (蠟梅) in Chinese. It is also grown in Iran, where it is called gol-e yakh (گل‌یخ) or "ice flower" in Persian.^[3]

Chimonanthus praecox
Winter flowers on leafless stems
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Calycanthaceae
Genus:	Chimonanthus
Species:	C. praecox
Binomial name
Chimonanthus praecox (L.) Link
Synonyms[1]
Beureria praecox (L.) Kuntze Calycanthus praecox L. Calycanthus suaveolens Salisb. Chimonanthus caespitosus T.B.Chao, Z.X.Chen & Z.Q.Li Chimonanthus fragrans (Loisel.) Lindl. Chimonanthus grandiflorus (Lindl.) Steud. Chimonanthus luteus (G.Don) Biel. Chimonanthus parviflorus Raf. Chimonanthus verus Biel. Chimonanthus yunnanensis W.W.Sm. Meratia fragrans Loisel. Meratia praecox (L.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson Meratia yunnanensis (W.W.Sm.) Hu

The plant is a vigorous deciduous shrub growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall with an erect trunk and leaves 5–29 cm (2–11 in) long and 2–12 cm (1–5 in) broad. Its strongly scented pendent flowers, produced in winter (between November and March in UK,^[4]) on bare stems, have 15-21 yellow or pale green-yellow tepals, the inner ones usually with purplish red pigments.^[5][2][6]

• 
  A&B: flowers; C: foliage; D: hypanthium; E: longitudinal section of hypanthium; F: fruit; G: terminal leaf buds; H: seedling
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  Winter flowering
• 
  Leaves and fruit

This plant is cultivated in gardens, producing valued flower colour during dormant seasons. The cultivars C. praecox 'Grandiflorus'^[7] and C. praecox 'Luteus'^[8] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The plant is not closely related to allspice, Pimenta dioica.

Cultural use

C. praecox is a common motif in traditional Persian poetry, literature, and music. A more modern example of C. praecox in Persian music is Kourosh Yaghmaei's Gol-e Yakh.^[9]