Caragana

Plant Characteristics
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names
Fabaceae >	Caragana >

Read about Caragana in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Caragana (Caragan, its Mongolian name). Leguminosae. Pea Tree. Ornamental shrubs chiefly grown for their bright yellow flowers; some species are also used for hedges^CH. Leaves abruptly pinnate, often with persistent spiny-pointed rachis; lfts. small, entire; stipules deciduous or persistent and spiny: fls. papilionaceous; standard upright, like the wings with long claws; keel obtuse and straight; stamens 10, 9 connate, 1 free; ovary scarcely stipitate: pod linear, terete, straight, 2- valved, with several seeds. —More than 50 species from S. Russia to China, most of them in Cent. Asia. Monograph by Komarov in Act. Hort. Petrop. 29:179-388 (1908), with 16 plates^CH. The caraganas are deciduous unarmed or spiny shrubs with yellow, rarely whitish or pinkish flowers axillary and solitary or fascicled, followed by linear pods. The cultivated species are quite hardy, except a few Himalayan species. They grow in almost any soil, but best in a sandy soil and sunny position, and are well adapted for shrubberies. C. arborescens is the only one which grows into a small tree, and is of upright habit, like C. frutex, which is about half as high and more graceful; most of the other species are low shrubs, of usually spreading habit. C. arborescens is one of the best hedge shrubs for the prairies of the Northwest^CH. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

Propagation is by seeds sown in fall or in spring; if kept dry during the winter, soaking in tepid water for two or three days before sowing will be of advantage; also increased by root-cuttings and layers, or by grafting on seedling stock of C. arborescens in spring^CH.

Pests and diseases

Caragana species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Dark Dagger^wp.

Species

Selected species^wp

Caragana leveillei Kom.
Caragana manshurica (Kom.) Kom.
Caragana microphylla Lam.
Caragana pleiophylla (Regel) Pojark.
Caragana polourensis Franch.
Caragana pruinosa Kom.
Caragana pygmaea (L.) DC.
Caragana roborovskyi Kom.
Caragana rosea Turcz. ex Kom.
Caragana sinica (Buc'hoz) Rehder
Caragana sophoraelia Tausch
Caragana spinosa (L.) Vahl ex Hornem.
Caragana stenophylla Pojark.
Caragana tangutica Maxim. ex Kom.
Caragana tibetica Maxim. ex Kom.
Caragana tragacanthoides (Pall.) Poir.
Caragana turkestanica Kom.
Caragana ulicina Stocks
Caragana versicolor Benth.

Read about Caragana in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
C. Altagana, Poir. (syn. C. microphylla) C. arborteacens arenaria, Hort.(syn. C. microphylla) C. arenaria, Dipp.(syn. C. aurantiaca) C. aurantiaca, Koehne. Allied to C. pygmaea. Fls. orange-yellow; calyx as long as broad; ovary glabrous. Siberia. C. Boisii, Schneid. (C. microphylla var. crasse-aculeata, Bois). Allied to C. arborescens. Shrub, to 6 ft.: lfts. 10-12, obovate or narrowly obovate, about ½in. long, silky pubescent beneath at least when young, whitish beneath: stipules spiny: fls. solitary. W. China. V.F. 57. C. brevispina, Royle (C.trifiora,Lindl.). Spines 2-3 in. long: lfts. 12-16, pubescent: fls. 2-4, on a common peduncle. Himalayas. P.F.G. 2: 184. C. decorticans, Hemsl. Allied to C. microphylla. Shrub or small tree, spiny: lfts. 8-12, oval, less than ½ in. long: fls. 1-2. Afghanistan. H.I. 18:1725. C. frutenscens, DC. (syn. C. frutex) C. Gerardiana, Royle. Spines 1½-2 in. long: stipules large, scarious: lfts. 8-12, densely pubescent: fls. 1-2, short - pedicelled. Himalayas. C. gracilis, Hort.(syn. C. pygmaea) C. grandiflora, DC. Allied to C. pygmaea. Lfts. cuneate-oblong, glabrous or pubescent: fls. 1¼ in. long; calyx gibbous at the base. Caucasus. The plant sometimes cult. under this name is a variety of C. frutex. C. jubata, Pall. Sparingly branched shrub with very thick, spiny and villous branches: stipules large, scarious: lfts. 8-14, linear-oblong, villoua beneath: fls. whitish, 1 in. long, short-pedicelled. Siberia. F.S. 19:2013. L. B.C. 6:522. Gt. 10:331. A very distinct and curious-looking species: hardy. C. sophoraefolia, Bess. (C. arborescens X C. microphylla. C. cuneifolia, Dipp.). Lfts. usually 12, oblong to elliptic, cuneate, acute: pods ¾in. long. Garden origin. C. spinosa, DC. Spines 1 in. long: lfts. 4, rarely more, approximate, cuneate-lanceolate, glabrous: fls. solitary, short-pedicelled. Siberia. C. spinosiasima, C. Koch (syn. C. spinosa) C. tragacanthoides, Poir. Spiny: lfts. 4-8, cuneate, oblong, pubescent: fls. solitary, short-pedicelled: calyx villous-pubescent. Himalayas. C. triflora, Lindl. (syn. C. brevispina) C. vulgaris, Hort. (syn. C. arborescens) ^CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Gallery

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References

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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