Blachia siamensis

Blachia siamensis

The Blachia siamensis is a species of bonsai tree that was new to me and seen for the first time at the Bonsai Clubs International Exhibition in Guangzhou, China. It was an unusual tree species with some great key features and there were many examples on display to observe and study.

Blachia is a genus of plants under the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is native to Southeast Asia, southern China, and the Indian Subcontinent. Blachia siamensis or 海南留萼木 hai nan liu e mu. It is a shrubs 1-2 m tall with pubescent young branches, glabrescent, sometimes with corky angles. Petiole 2-6 mm; leaf blade obovate-elliptic, 2-5.5 × 1.5-3.5 cm, papery, gray-brown when dry, both surfaces glabrous, base broadly cuneate, rarely rounded, margin entire, prominently revolute, apex rounded, rarely retuse; lateral veins 3-5, divaricate near margin. Male inflorescence terminal, ca. 5 cm, 4-6-flowered; female inflorescence terminal or subterminal, 1-5-flowered. Male flowers white; pedicels slender, 10-15 mm; sepals 5, subovate, sparsely pubescent at apex; petals 5, obtriangular, ca. 0.7 mm; disk glands 5; stamens ca. 20; filaments free; anthers rounded. Female flowers: pedicels ca. 5 mm, sparsely pubescent; sepals 5, ovate-triangular, ca. 1.5 mm, pilose inside; disk glands 5; ovary sparsely villous to glabrous; styles 3, connate at base, bifid at apex, lobes linear. Capsule subglobose, ca. 8 mm in diam., glabrous. Seeds elliptic, ca. 5 × 2.5 mm, dark brown, with stripes of gray-brown spots. Flowers from June to July, fruits from August to September. It is found in open coastal woodlands; 100-200 m. Guangdong (cultivated), S Hainan (Sanya) [Thailand].

Here are a selection of Blachia siamensis that were on display at the Bonsai Clubs International Exhibition in Guangzhou, China.

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