Polylepis australis

photo: Alan Gregg

Love trees with character? Love peely, flaky bark? Polylepis has beautiful exfoliating cinnamon-colored bark that puts Acer griseus (aka “Paperbark Maple”) to shame. Polylepis is actually in the Rose family (!) but grows into a large shrub or small tree 25’ tall & wide. With pruning it can be kept smaller though. Fast growing, with an open & sculptural form of twisting, textural branches. The delicate foliage is very Rosa rugosa-esque with divided, ridged leaves that are a lovely blue-green color. Evergreen, but in Fall some of the leaves develop a bright red & yellow color that is beautiful with the remaining blue leaves & reddish bark. The tiny green flowers in late Spring are inconspicuous but the resulting seeds are much loved by birds. Native to mountainous areas of South America, this is not the best choice for hot, humid locations but is ideal for the West Coast.

Kelly Kilpatrick
Horticulturalist