Sclerochiton odoratissimus

Thank you to Michael Charters of Calflora.net for contributing today''s photograph via the Botany Photo of the Day submissions forum on the garden''s site (in this thread). As Michael notes, “Here''s a picture of a beautiful species that has few if any images displayed on the internet”.

It''s not just images that are hard to come by online – information about the species is hard to find, too! Michael''s description, “It is an erect shrub 3-4'' tall, sparsely hairy all over and sweetly scented, hence the species name”, is about as much information as I can locate, though the Botanical Society of Africa''s Kwa Zulu-Natal Coastal Branch adds that it prefers semi-shade and has a common name of “white lips”.

Details about this genus of African woody plants are a bit easier to locate, thanks to the Flora of Zimbabwe''s entry on Sclerochiton and (especially) the Tree of Life''s page on Sclerochiton. The latter contains additional images of species in the genus, including the member of the genus most often (though still rarely) found in cultivation, Sclerochiton harveyanus (or “blue lips”, despite the colour of the flower in the image on that page). Swaziland''s Flora Database explains that Sclerochiton harveyanus may have a flower colour of mauve, purple or violet (and in shade, I suppose, these may appear blue, hence blue lips). Posted by: Daniel Mosquin    Source