Stewartia pteropetiolata

A most unusual species from China and N. Vietnam, where I've seen it growing with a multitude of other exciting temperate genera. Semi-evergreen to evergreen leaves emerge red-bronze tinted in spring/summer and turn dark glossy green, leathery and with deeply impressed veins; the petioles are winged, hence the specific epithet. Flowers are up to 4cm across and resemble the Tea plant, Camellia sinensis; white with a yellow centre. For neutral to acid soil in sun or semi-shade in mild gardens. It thrives in Cornwall for example and would also do so in various other spots.