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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Abelia''
| image = Abeliarandiflora1web.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Glossy Abelia (''Abelia x grandiflora'')
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Dipsacales]]
| familia = [[Caprifoliaceae]] ([[Linnaeaceae]])
| genus = '''''Abelia'''''
| genus_authority = [[Robert Brown (botanist)|R.Br.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''''Abelia''''' is a [[genus]] of about 15-30 [[species]] and many [[hybrid]]s in the honeysuckle family [[Caprifoliaceae]], in the part of that family split off by some authors in the [[segregate (taxonomy)|segregate]] family [[Linnaeaceae]]. The [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]] considers Linnaeaceae to encompass such genera as ''Linnaea'', ''Abelia'', ''Dipelta'', ''Kolkwitzia'', and ''Zabelia''.

Abelias are [[shrub]]s from 1-6 m tall, native to eastern [[Asia]] ([[Japan]] west to the [[Himalaya]]) and southern [[North America]] ([[Mexico]]); the species from warm climates are [[evergreen]], and colder climate species [[deciduous]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite or in whorls of three, ovate, glossy, dark green, 1.5-8 cm long, turning purplish-bronze to red in autumn in the deciduous species. The [[flower]]s appear in the upper leaf axils and stem ends, 1-8 together in a short [[cyme]]; they are pendulous, white to pink, bell-shaped with a five-lobed corolla, 1-5 cm long, and usually scented. Flowering continues over a long and continuous late spring to fall period.

;Selected species
{|
|- valign=top
|
*''Abelia aitchinsonii''
*''Abelia biflora '' - (China)
*''Abelia buddleioides '' - (China)
*''Abelia chinensis '' - (China)
*''Abelia coriacea'' - (Mexico)
*''Abelia corymbosa'' - (Central Asia)
*''Abelia curviflora '' - (Japan)
*''Abelia dielsii '' - (China)
*''Abelia engleriana'' - (Sichuan, China)
*''Abelia fargesii'' - (Japan)
*''Abelia floribunda'' - Mexican Abelia (Mexico)
*''Abelia forrestii'' - (China)
*''Abelia integrifolia '' - (Japan)
|
*''Abelia ionostachya'' - (Japan)
*''Abelia macrotera'' - (China)
*''Abelia mexicana'' - (Mexico)
*''Abelia mosanensis'' - (Korea)
*''Abelia occidentalis'' - (Mexico)
*''Abelia parvifolia '' - (China)
*''Abelia serrata'' - (Japan)
*''Abelia spathulata'' - (Japan)
*''Abelia speciosa'' - (Mexico)
*''Abelia tomentosa'' - (Japan)
*''Abelia taihyonii '' - (Korea)
*''Abelia triflora'' - (Himalaya)
*''Abelia umbellata'' - (Sichuan, China)
|}

;Hybrids
*''[[Abelia x grandiflora]]'' Hort. ex. Bailey

===Cultivation and uses===
Abelias are popular [[garden]] shrubs. The most widely grown is the hybrid ''[[Abelia x grandiflora]]'' (Glossy Abelia; hybrid ''Abelia chinensis'' x ''Abelia uniflora''). This is a rounded, spreading, multi-stemmed shrub with gracefully arching branches to 1-1.8 m tall, with ovate, glossy, dark green semi-evergreen leaves to 2-6 cm long, and clusters of white-tinged-pink, bell-shaped flowers to 2 cm long.

''Abelia'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species - see [[list of Lepidoptera which feed on Abelia]].

==References and external links==
*Barnes, P. 2001. Looking at Abelias. New Plantsman 8(2): 78-92 (clarification of nomenclature, history, and cultivars with an excellent key and photographs).
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=100018 Flora of China: ''Abeila'' species list]
*[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?10 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Abeila'']
*[http://www.granada.org/graficos/arboles/abelia.jpg Mexican Abelia]
*[http://newplants.tripod.com/abel333s.html Abelia page]
*[http://apt.allenpress.com/aptonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0007-196X&volume=052&issue=02&page=0172 Two new species of Abelia]

[[Category:Caprifoliaceae]]
[[Category:Holarctic flora]]

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