Deciduous, compact shrub to 2 m tall with downy shoots that are squarish in section. Leaves oval to ovate, to about 5 cm long, sometimes hairy below on veins. Flowers in broad, axillary, violet-purple clusters to about 10 cm long.
N China
Generally available as the cultivar S. meyeri 'Palibin'.
S. microphylla Diels from N and W China is occasionally available; it has smaller flowers and leaves hairy on the veins below. S. 'Superba', a prolific flowerer, is occasionally available.
S. patula (Palib.) Nakai from N China and Korea is a deciduous shrub to 3 m or so tall. New growth purplish. Leaves ovate to lanceolate, to 6 cm long, tapered at the base, dull above, downy to hairless. Flower clusters fairly open, narrow and cylindrical, to 15 cm long. Flowers shades of lilac, white inside, with the purple anthers just below the opening, petals narrow and bent back, fragrant; late spring to early summer. [S. velutina Komar.]
Source: (2002). Oleaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Habit dwarf and compact. Flowers fading from violet to rose pink in dense short clusters.
