DAY 66 (10 JUNE) – Chinese holly (Osmanthus heterophyllus) (Farnham, England)
A wintry plant for a wintry day of solid rain. I nipped out quickly to take this Chinese holly in the garden. What interested me is how much more attractive the new leaves are than the old ones. Paler, in a blend of almost autumnal colours. And, although they’re pretending to have spikes, these are still soft and harmless. The older leaves – dark green in the background here – are stiffer, waxy and unpleasantly prickly. Perhaps a bit like us…?
What makes it Chinese by the way is that the leaves are ‘opposite’ on the stem, rather than ‘alternate’ like English holly.
