China is home to a rich variety of plant and animal resources. However, a number of rare plants have only survived due to the diligent efforts of relevant individuals and policies.
In this article, I will introduce the ten rarest flowers in China.
These include the Golden Camellia, Goosefoot Begonia, Four Drug Door Flower, Red Rhododendron, Tiger Face Flower, Fairy Magnolia, Black Peony, Danxia Paulownia, Lijiang Ladle Orchid, and Silver Thread Plum. Come with me to explore these rare Chinese flowers.
1. Golden Flower Tea
Belonging to the Camellia family and genus, Golden Flower Tea is listed as one of the national first-class protected plants. This ancient and rare plant is sparsely distributed and scant in number, ranking among the world’s most precious botanical rarities. It shares the distinction of being a “living plant fossil” alongside treasures like the silver fir, tree fern, and dove tree.
Included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, it’s known abroad as the magical Oriental wonder tea, earning nicknames like “the Panda of the plant world” and “the Queen of tea.”
2. Davidia Involucrata
Davidia Involucrata stands tall and straight, its crown proper and erect like a tower. It sports uniquely-shaped leaves resembling traditional Chinese robes and flowers like golden cups, exuding a delicate, ancient charm. It’s lush with leaves, providing ample shade, and in autumn, the leaves turn a golden yellow.
As one of the rare and precious tree species, it has suffered from overlogging, making it increasingly scarce in its main distribution areas. The Davidia Involucrata is a species of cross-pollination, yet self-fertilization occurs. The pistil often matures just before the bud is about to bloom.
By the time the flower blooms, the stigma has turned yellow and withered, losing its ability to pollinate. Despite the pistil’s ability to continue developing without being fertilized, the seeds produced are weak, resulting in a low germination rate. Thus, it is considered one of the endangered tree species.
3. Sida Medicine Gate Flower
The Sida Medicine Gate Flower, belonging to the Hypericaceae family, is a rare species in China, distributed along the coast of Guangdong and in Longzhou, Guangxi. According to Maigoo, the Sida Medicine Gate Flower was rediscovered in Longzhou, Guangxi in June 1957, and its plants are extremely rare.
It is now included in China’s Red Book of Protected Plants and the Atlas of Rare and Endangered Plants in Guangdong Province. This evergreen shrub or small tree grows in fertile, red soil rich in humus, thriving as a small tree in tropical and subtropical forests with a certain tolerance for shade.
4. Rhododendron Red Camellia
The Rhododendron Red Camellia, with flowers resembling those of a camellia and leaves akin to a rhododendron, has been called the “Panda of the plant world.” Once on the brink of extinction, this plant has natural populations found in the Ehuangzhang Nature Reserve in Yangchun County, Guangdong Province.
However, due to continuous harvesting and insufficient conservation efforts, its habitat has been damaged. Currently, there are only about a thousand of these plants left in the wild. It has been listed as an extremely endangered species in China’s Red List of Species.
5. Tiger-faced Flower
The Tiger-faced Flower, a perennial evergreen herb, belongs to the Wild Peony family and Tiger-faced Flower genus. Researchers from the Beijing Botanical Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered this peculiar flower, unrecorded in the Chinese Flora, during a vegetation survey in Ehuangzhang in the 1970s.
This flower was named the “Tiger-faced Flower” by the botanical community in China. Subsequently, it was listed as a top-tier endangered plant in China and included in China’s Red Book of Protected Plants, receiving worldwide protection.
6. Magnolia Fairy Flower
The Magnolia Fairy Flower, a unique and exquisite plant, is a rare and precious flower that survived from the Quaternary Ice Age. Listed in the national endangered plant directory, it is a rare global plant that China prioritizes for protection.
According to Maigoo, this plant is distributed intermittently in the mountainous areas adjoining Jilin and Liaoning provinces and in certain mountainous areas of East and South China. Due to deforestation, habitat destruction, and weak natural renewal capabilities, its distribution area is shrinking and the number of plants is dwindling.
7. Black Peony Flower
Native to China, the Black Peony is a flower with a mystical allure and is considered a rare variety due to its scarcity. Although there are many flower colors in the world, black flowers are extremely rare. Black absorbs all light waves, causing flowers to heat up quickly in sunlight, which can scorch the flower tissues and hinder self-protection.
As a result, there are very few naturally preserved black flower varieties. Additionally, it’s incredibly challenging to artificially create black flower varieties, and the chances of obtaining black flowers through hybridization are extremely slim. Therefore, among the myriad of colorful flowers, the Black Peony becomes extraordinarily precious due to its rarity.
8. Danxia Paulownia
The Danxia Paulownia is a unique species found in Danxia landforms, mainly distributed in crevices of cliff faces and shallow soil layers in valleys, often accompanied by small rock formations and plants such as golden needle flowers, resurrection plants, and lilies.
Due to factors like its limited distribution area and human disturbance, the existing number of these trees is quite small. When first discovered in Danxia Mountain in 1987, there were fewer than 100 trees, making it an endangered species. It is now designated as a national rare and endangered plant and a second-class key protected wild plant, a fact that Maigoo editors find very regrettable.
Every year in May and June, the Danxia Paulownia flowers bloom in beautiful clusters. However, due to the scarcity of the plant, even on Danxia Mountain, this splendid sight is not easily seen everywhere.
9. Lijiang Spoon Orchid
The Lijiang Spoon Orchid, a national first-class protected plant belonging to the Orchid family and Spoon Orchid genus, has been assessed as a very small population. Since August 29, 2013, the Lijiang Spoon Orchid has been evaluated as globally endangered (EN) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and its population is declining.
The species is sensitive to environmental changes and can only survive under specific altitude, soil, and shading conditions. It is now facing a variety of direct or indirect human threats, including infrastructure and tourism development, excessive collection for horticulture or trade, ecological imbalance, trampling, climate change, drought, deforestation, and soil erosion.
10. Silversword
The Silversword is a deciduous small tree with an antique shape. Its leaves turn yellow in autumn, and its silver-threaded flowers are particularly unique. The Silversword originated in the early-middle Triassic period in the shallow sea area of the ancient Qinglong Sea and partial marine-land interchanges.
After the seawater receded, it fell within the range of the Chinese plant region, adding new evidence to the Chinese plant system with its discovery. In 1999, the Silversword was included in the first batch of national rare and endangered plant species and given key protection.
Peggie was once a high school mathematics teacher, but she set aside her chalkboard and textbooks to follow her lifelong passion for flowers. After years of dedication and learning, she not only established a thriving flower shop but also founded this blog, “Flowers Library”. Here, Peggie shares the art and science of floristry, offers practical tips for nurturing plants, delves into the captivating histories of various species, and provides insights into running a successful flower shop. She hopes that everyone can take a moment now and then to immerse themselves in the world of flowers. If you have any questions or wish to learn more about flowers, feel free to contact Peggie.
