This Chinese Neillia is a rare shrub to be found in the USA that is native to central China. It is a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae). I've only seen one specimen grown in the backyard of my biggest customer in southeast Pennsylvania, who likes to collect some rare and uncommon plants. It is grown in some arboretums and botanical gardens. It is offered by a few specialty nurseries. It is much like the Common Ninebark (Physocarpos) of eastern North America that is also in the Rose Family, with similar leaves and stems, but very different nodding raceme clusters of small, pink, tubular flowers. It is not strongly floriferous. I've never seen a good fall color here. It is a nice, clean, basically neat, upright shrub that ground suckers some. Its scientific name comes from being named in honour of Patrick Neill, a Scottish naturalist of the late 18th century to the mid-19th century; "sinensis" means "of China."

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