Abelia, a great designer plant, is known not only for stunning autumn colors but also for its dramatic color throughout the year. Buzzle provides information on Abelia varieties and their characteristics.
Abelias are named after Dr. Clarke Abel, a surgeon who was appointed as the Chief Medical Officer to Lord Amherst's Embassy to China (1816-1817). Dr. Clarke was a keen naturalist too. Unfortunately, all the plants and seeds that he had collected in China were lost in a shipwreck when he was returning to England. Later, Scottish botanist Robert Fortune imported plants of Abelia chinensis in 1844, and of Abelia uniflora in 1849.
The genus Abelia contains about 30 different species of flowering shrubs and a number of hybrids. These popular flowering plants belong to the family Caprifoliaceae (Linnaeaceae). They are native to eastern Asia (from Western Japan to the Himalayan ranges) and southern part of North America (Mexico). They are described as 'semi-evergreen shrubs', because the species that grow in colder regions are deciduous (they may lose half of the leaves in winter). Plants growing in warmer regions can be evergreen. Abelias require little or no maintenance.
