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What does "semi-evergreen" look like in winter?

Brittney asks:

Question

What does it exactly mean "semi-evergreen? I don't understand how something could be so. What are some examples?


Answer

It means evergreen according to the weather. A semi-evergreen is a plant which keeps its leaves in a mild winter but loses some or even all of them in a hard winter.

Examples of semi evergreen shrubs:

Abelia
Buddleia
Cotoneaster
Cytisus
Daphne
Hypericum
Lonicera (honeysuckle)
Ribes


I think semi-evergreen can refer to a plant that either:

A) loses some of its leaves in winter as a response to cold, dry, or short day-length (rigorous climate) whereas it would otherwise remain evergreen. (example: a southern live oak tree in USDA zone 7a during a particularly cold winter)

or

It loses some or most of its leaves in winter because it doesn't have the genetic capability to hold them into the next growing season. Example: Magnolia virginiana var. virginiana (Northern Sweet Bay).

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