Persian Ironwood ‘Vanessa’ · Parrotia persica ‘Vanessa’

Parrotia persica ‘Vanessa’ is a narrower, more upright selection of Persian ironwood, reaching roughly 8 to 10 metres tall and 3 to 5 metres wide at maturity. The narrower crown is the cultivar’s principal point of difference from the type species, which develops a broader, often multi-stemmed silhouette ill-suited to confined urban pits. For Spanish projects, ‘Vanessa’ offers a vertical deciduous canopy without the maintenance burden of plátano de sombra (Platanus x acerifolia) under Ceratocystis platani pressure.

Hardiness extends to roughly minus 28 °C, placing the cultivar across the continental interior of the meseta, the humid Atlantic strip of the cornisa cantábrica, and the temperate inland zones of Catalunya. Heat tolerance is moderate; on the Mediterranean coastal littoral it performs in irrigated schemes and shaded courtyards, but it is not the right specification for the semi-arid south-east of Almería and Murcia. Late frosts on the central plateau are tolerated, as the apetalous flowers open in late winter before foliage emerges.

Water demand is moderate once established, requiring a soak-and-cycle regime through the first two or three summers and reduced but regular summer irrigation thereafter under continental and Mediterranean exposures. Soil preferences run to fertile, well-drained, neutral-to-acidic substrates; on the calcareous and gypsiferous soils of the Ebro valley and the south-east, chlorosis is a credible risk and ground-conditioning is advisable in the pliego de condiciones. Pollution tolerance and a non-aggressive root system make the cultivar specifiable for urban pits and paved alignments.

Autumn programme is the headline asset, with foliage moving through yellow, orange, scarlet and deep purple over an extended window. The register is more often associated with North American Acer or Liquidambar than with Iberian palettes, and the visual case is strongest on the cornisa cantábrica and in northern Catalunya. Late-winter red flowers are small but appear on bare wood and provide a welcome calendar marker; the bark exfoliates in plates of grey, green and pale buff, carrying interest through the dormant season. The cultivar sits outside the known host range of Xylella fastidiosa, useful where designers step away from Olea or Nerium oleander in demarcated zones.