Wintersweet bursts into flower
Wintersweet at Shanghai Botanical Garden where there are over 60 varieties of the shrub
The first flowers of wintersweet have appeared at the city's botanical gardens and should continue to March.
The temperatures that allow wintersweet to burst into flower are between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius, and a few varieties will be in full bloom this month with the majority showing their true colors in January, said Wang Yuqin, a botanist at Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District.
Some late flowering varieties bloom in February with the blossoms lasting for about a month, he said.
The garden has more than 60 varieties of the flower.
At Chenshan Botanical Garden in Songjiang District, some wintersweet varieties have flowered. They have a light fragrance.
Wintersweet is also in full bloom at the Quarry Garden and Rock Garden.
Wintersweet flowers appear at Chenshan Botanical Garden in this file photo.
