Today's BPotD entry is number 250, so I thought I'd share a plant in the same family as the first entry (Melliodendron xylocarpum), the Styracaceae.

Rehderodendron macrocarpum (interpretative sign) is native to southeast China and Vietnam (Flora of China entry | illustration). The genus name commemorates the German-born taxonomist Alfred Rehder, a former curator of the herbarium at the Arnold Arboretum.

The pictured fruit takes over six months to mature. This is perhaps not surprising, considering this 9cm long woody-shelled fruit develops from dainty 2cm long flowers. Despite blooming profusely with thousands of flowers, only a few of the flowers develop into fruit at UBC Botanical Garden – maybe a dozen to two dozen each year.

This was one of the favourite plants of the late Dr. Gerald Straley.

Botany resource link: Overview of Barley, via Oregon State University's BarleyWorld.org. “Think Barley!”