- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Beauty at its best.
If see the perennial shrub, Anisodontea sp. ‘Strybing Beauty,' a member of the family Malvaceae (mallows), chances are you'll see bees pollinating the rosy pink blossoms.
It's an early bloomer, a mid-bloomer and late bloomer. Yes, it blooms year-around. It's a year-around bloomer.
“Strybing Arboretum” used to be the name of that noted botanical garden in San Francisco. Major donor Helene Jordan Strybing (1845-1926), widow of the wealthy San Francisco investor and landowner Christian Henry Strybing (1821-1895), donated the funds to honor her husband. It is now known as the "San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.”
The Strybing name also appears in the species of other plants, including:
- Cuphea 'Strybing Sunset' (Orange Bunny Ears)
- Brugmansia 'Strybing Vulsa' (Angel's Trumpet)
- Magnolia campbellii 'Strybing White'
But the Strybing Beauty it truly is.
![Is there anything more beautiful than a golden honey bee tucked inside the spectacular rosy pink blossom of Anisodontea sp. ‘Strybing Beauty'? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Is there anything more beautiful than a golden honey bee tucked inside the spectacular rosy pink blossom of Anisodontea sp. ‘Strybing Beauty'? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/86161.jpg)
![A honey bee heads for the Anisodontea sp. ‘Strybing Beauty.' (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A honey bee heads for the Anisodontea sp. ‘Strybing Beauty.' (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/blogfiles/86162.jpg)