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April 23, 2005 : Helwingia japonica
Keywords: Helwingiaceae | Macro Photography | 21766-0464-1982
The male flowers of Helwingia japonica. Small and not showy, they are still quite special; note that the flowers are emerging from the leaf, instead of the stem. This is a phenomenon called epiphylly. We've written an interpretative sign about Helwingia japonica, but I'm going to add a bit more detail since I'm not encumbered by the ca. one hundred word limit we have for signage.
Dr. Tom Dickinson of the University of Toronto has written a concise description of the developmental biology of epiphyllous growth in Helwingia, accompanied by images.
As mentioned on the interpretative sign, epiphylly is a rare phenomenon - a quick search suggested the condition occurs on some genera in perhaps a half dozen plant families, almost all of which are tropical. It's very likely that UBC Botanical Garden is one of the few places in Canada you can see this phenomenon, although I note one nursery in Ontario is selling the plants (do a search for “Helwingia japonica” +Canada). If you're visiting the garden, the most obvious place to find it is by the bench on the small meadow off of Lower Asian Way.
The family Helwingiaceae is monotypic - it only has the one genus, Helwingia, of which there are three species. The garden has two of the species in its collection, H. japonica and Helwingia chinensis. There's a good distribution map for the family on the web page for Aquifoliales at the Missouri Botanical Garden. While visiting that link, be sure to click on the link that says “photo-fruit” immediately to the left of the map. Unfortunately, you can't see the fruit at UBC - our plants are all male. One of our identified collection priorities for both research and education is to obtain a documented wild origin female plant of the species, as that is currently a gap in both the story that we can tell about this plant and what we can learn from it.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at April 23, 2005 12:00 AM
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Posted by: Mustela Furo at June 23, 2005 4:33 AM
dear sir, thank you for your website.
I see about plant of Helwingia japonica and H.himalica in your website but I don't know about it. I am nepali I leave in nepal so I have seen these kinds of plant so that please give me any information about this plant?
best regards/ CHINIYA/NEPAL.................
Posted by: chiniya at September 23, 2005 5:14 AM
Hello Chiniya,
You might want to start with Helwingia in the Flora of China.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at September 23, 2005 11:05 AM
We grow and propagate this Helwingia japonica at the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden (and MsK Rare Plant Nursery) in Shoreline, Washington (www.kruckeberg.org). Our plant is five feet tall and growing very nicely in rather dense shade! It sports attractive, green stems and has a purple stripe to the midpoint of each leaf, where the flower appears (not evident in the photo on the UBC page). Unfortunately, we do NOT have a female to offer!
I love to show these weird flowers to our tours, for they always bring exclamations of amazement.
Posted by: Rod Parke at August 12, 2007 12:51 PM
My guess is that the Pleurothallidinae group of the Orchidaceae contains the largest number of species exhibiting this morphology.
Locally, Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata appears to exhibit this morphology.
If neither of those examples are epiphylly, please educate me! =)
Posted by: Eric in SF at August 13, 2007 11:45 AM
Sure, I'll educate you. From the "Categorical Glossary for the Flora of North America Project":
epiphyllous {insertion, position} Upon the leaves, or partially adnate thereto and apparently arising therefrom
perfoliate {architecture} [foliaceous structure] Having a sessile lamina (blade) that uninterruptedly encircles the bearing axis which thus passes through it at some point within the margin.
For Claytonia and Pleurothallis, the flowers are actually borne on a peduncle, whereas the flowers of Helwingia are borne on the leaf itself.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at August 28, 2007 4:16 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Wow! When I first saw that, I thought there was a teeny crab on the leaf! Then I thought the flower had fallen off something. I was going to ask whether it grew on the stem, when I read the description. Now I have a different question. Could you link to a picture that shows the plant in perspective, like Raoula Australis? I am wondering how big it really is.