10 native plants & flowers to look out for in Hong Kong

Photo: Hong Kong Herbarium

Scientific name: Impatiens hongkongensis Grey-Wilson

The softwood Hong Kong Balsam was first discovered in 1925 in Tai Po and was confirmed to be a new species in 1978, one that is only found in Hong Kong as far as botanists know. Its blossoms are a pale yellow, with reddish blotches along the throat, and flowers from October. The Hong Kong Balsam grows in Tai Mo Shan, Tai Po Kau, Ng Tung Chai, Yuen Tun Ha, and Ma On Shan, usually by streams or in ravines.

Photo: @brandhongkong (via Instagram)

Scientific name: Camellia hongkongensis

It was back in 1849 when these pretty flowers were found by a Colonel Eyre in a ravine in Victoria Peak, and later also in Pok Fu Lam, Mount Nicholson, and Mount Parker. The flowers bloom from late autumn through to springtime and are Hong Kong’s only native camellia with red blossoms. Specimens of this flower have been planted in the Shing Mun Arboretum public gardens, and have also been introduced to Japan in the late 1950s from the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.

Photo: @tabananasampo (via Instagram)

Scientific name: Cornus hongkongensis

This is a species of dogwood tree that was found on our shores in the 1850s and subsequently named after the territories in 1888. Blooming from late spring to early summer, its fragrant flowers are interestingly four-petaled, rather resembling white four-leaf clovers. While quite rare in Hong Kong, this species can also be found in China, Laos, and Vietnam, with some morphological differences. Some types bear sweet fruit that can be eaten, but please err on the side of safety if you do come across the Hong Kong Dogwood and don’t just chow down!

Photo: @kitkitkitlee (via Instagram)

Scientific name: Rhodoleia championii

This specimen was collected in 1849 by J. G. Champion, in the area that is modern-day Aberdeen. The evergreen tree bears downward-hanging flowers that are a fetching shade of fuschia or rose, which appear in late winter to early spring. Its natural population is rooted in Aberdeen, but the plant has since been propagated in various country parks.

Photo: @helicongus (via Flickr)

Scientific name: Acer tutcheri Duthie

This species was discovered on Lantau Island in 1904, fittingly by Tutcher, who was then the superintendent of the Botanical and Afforestation Department. Its small red blossoms are not the most eye-catching, but interestingly, Tutcher’s maple belongs to the same genus as the maple trees that Canada is so famous for, and its leaves also turn that gorgeous shade of red and orange in autumn. Unfortunately, this is a pretty rare plant to spot in Hong Kong, as it usually only grows in high altitudes.

Photo: @danieltheowl (via Instagram)

Scientific name: Pavetta hongkongensis

This flowering shrub with paper-thin leaves was first discovered in Happy Valley between 1847 and 1850. Its little four-petaled flowers come in clusters with stamen poking out the middle of each, giving the clusters an overall fuzzy look. The best time to see the pavetta is during its flowering period from March to October. They can be found in Deep Water Bay and near the Lion’s Nature Education Centre in Sai Kung.

Photo: @danieltheowl (via Instagram)

Scientific name: Arundinaria shiuyingiana

This is a small species of bamboo named after Dr Shiu-ying Hu for her contributions to the study of Hong Kong flora in 1983. First discovered in Eagle’s Nest in 1981, this bamboo is endemic to Hong Kong and found nowhere else in the world thus far. Even within the territories, it only grows in very limited areas—mainly the hillslopes of Eagle’s Nest and near the campus of Chinese University Hong Kong.

Photo: @Ianare (via Wikimedia Commons)

Scientific name: Bauhinia x blakeana

Of course, our list concludes with the very symbol of Hong Kong itself: the bauhinia flower. Interestingly, this is a hybrid plant whose parents have no ties to Hong Kong at all—namely the rather hilariously named Purple Camel’s Foot (Bauhinia purpurea) and Camel’s Foot Tree (Bauhinia variegata). Because of the cross-breeding involved, the Hong Kong orchid is sterile and can only be reproduced through grafting and root cuttings. In other words, the bauhinia flowers you see around the city are essentially clones of the same blooms seen a whole century ago.

In the 1880s, a French Catholic missionary called Jean-Marie Delavay came across the flower near Pok Fu Lam and took a cutting to propagate. The original plant might have been a happy accident of nature, but without Delavay’s efforts, it would have simply died out. Several years later, one such cutting from Delavay’s cultures was offered to the Botanical Gardens, where it got properly documented and named.

These large crimson-purple flowers bloom from September to June, and even if you can’t see it in nature, this blossom is proudly emblazoned across our banknotes, coins, and of course, our flag.