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Hydrangea febrifuga; photograph Arne Holgersson, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF CC0Arne Holgersson, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF

Hydrangea febrifuga (Lour.) Y.De Smet & C.Granados

Anti-febrile Dichroa (Chinese Quinine); Chinese-quinine; Fever-flower

Hydrangeaceae · China South-Central, China North-Central +15 · listed by its genus as a temperate garden plant

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Hydrangea febrifuga, photograph Aaron Liston, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFHydrangea febrifuga, photograph Aaron Liston, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFHydrangea febrifuga, photograph olmagon, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFHydrangea febrifuga, photograph Zac Peterson, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFHydrangea febrifuga, photograph Zac Peterson, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFHydrangea febrifuga, photograph Zac Peterson, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF 24 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
1.7°C
Record low -4.2 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
26°C
Jun, Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,412mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
22–30DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes May to September, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Hydrangea febrifuga is a flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae. It is a subshrub or shrub native to central and southern China, Indochina, Malesia, and New Guinea.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Hydrangea febrifuga", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Hydrangea

Hydrangea is a genus of more than 70 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some are also often called hortensia. The genus was first described from Virginia in North America, but by far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Hydrangea", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a temperate garden plant, listed under the genus Hydrangea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “subshrub or shrub”, “temperate”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,766 mm of 2,303 mm) falls in May to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 23.0 °C against a yearly mean of 19.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to March.

Rain

2,303 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,766 mm of it May to September. Wettest month June at 399 mm, driest month December at 31 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,807 mm to 4,254 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,412 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,303 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 30 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 15, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 1.7 °C, the absolute minimum -4.2 °C, 47 frost nights in 44 years, 1.1 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 34.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 10.2 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -0.5 °C to 16.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 26.4 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 60 to 70% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +56 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Hydrangea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “subshrub or shrub”, “temperate”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Hydrangea febrifuga through the yearWarmest months June, July and August, mean daily high 26 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 10.2 °C; 2,303 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost34.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-4.2° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0200400600800mm rainDLI 22–30RH 60–70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 81 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C17 / 8–2218 / 10–2321 / 14–2323 / 17–2525 / 19–2726 / 20–2926 / 20–3026 / 20–3025 / 19–2923 / 17–2722 / 13–2419 / 9–22
Night °C10 / -1–1611 / 1–1613 / 4–1715 / 8–2117 / 11–2419 / 14–2521 / 14–2620 / 14–2618 / 13–2515 / 10–2214 / 5–1811 / 2–16
Rain mm33 / 20–36759 / 28–34187 / 45–391182 / 86–390303 / 174–413399 / 200–588388 / 161–655391 / 150–624285 / 140–49195 / 62–33250 / 18–33331 / 16–358
DLI22 / 15–2922 / 15–3326 / 17–3729 / 22–4030 / 24–3929 / 23–3229 / 21–3630 / 23–3328 / 23–3429 / 21–3325 / 16–2922 / 15–27
RH %62 / 57–7266 / 57–7267 / 53–7269 / 54–7369 / 61–7270 / 66–7470 / 65–7670 / 65–7468 / 64–7163 / 60–7061 / 58–6960 / 56–70
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 81 grid cells holding the 175 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1335:5866 (23.225, 113.325). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -4.2 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 34.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 81 distinct grid cells holding 175 of the 175 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1335:5866 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 23.00_113.125, lapse-corrected +56 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 78 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, China North-Central, China Southeast, Tibet, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Philippines, Sulawesi, New Guinea · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker22.43, 114.176 · in the densest population, 159 records (20% of those in range)
Kew's description“subshrub or shrub” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 778 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 175 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 374 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 13 km away. 46 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 603 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 778 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Hydrangea febrifuga, photograph 1did not loadHydrangea febrifuga, photograph 2did not loadHydrangea febrifuga, photograph 3did not loadHydrangea febrifuga, photograph 4did not loadHydrangea febrifuga, photograph 5did not loadHydrangea febrifuga, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Aaron Liston, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (2); olmagon, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF; Zac Peterson, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Litsea akoensis Litsea akoensis Lauraceae Photo: CC BY, 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi)Coelogyne fimbriata Coelogyne fimbriata Brown Rock Orchid Photo: CC0, author not statedPteris arisanensis Pteris arisanensis Pteridaceae Photo: CC BY, 黃美滿Paraboea swinhoei Paraboea swinhoei Gesneriaceae Photo: CC BY, Francisca WuBegonia palmata Begonia palmata Begoniaceae Photo: CC BY, 黃美滿Bergera euchrestifolia Bergera euchrestifolia Rutaceae Photo: CC BY, Hazel Chang

Other Hydrangea 42 in the reference

Hydrangea alternifolia Hydrangea alternifolia Hydrangeaceae Photo: CC BY, pavlaki1968 Hydrangea ampla Chinese hydrangea-vine Hydrangea anomala Hydrangea anomala Japanese Climbing-hydrangea Photo: CC BY, 黃美滿Hydrangea arborescens Hydrangea arborescens Smooth hydrangea Photo: CC BY, Andrew ConboyHydrangea arguta Hydrangea arguta Kanawao Photo: CC BY, Kevin FaccendaHydrangea aspera Hydrangea aspera Rough-leaf hydrangea Photo: CC BY, 五色鳥Hydrangea barbara Hydrangea barbara Climbing hydrangea Photo: CC0, Odile VHydrangea bifida Hydrangea bifida Hydrangeaceae Photo: CC BY, Philippe GiabbanelliHydrangea bretschneideri Hydrangea bretschneideri Hydrangeaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, VonundzuHydrangea caerulea Hydrangea caerulea Hydrangeaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Bouba at French WikipediaHydrangea cinerea Hydrangea cinerea Ashy hydrangea Photo: CC BY, sblumenHydrangea fauriei Hydrangea fauriei Hydrangeaceae Photo: CC BY, Cheng-Te Hsu all 43 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Adamia chinensis; Adamia cyanea; Adamia sylvatica; Callicarpa leveilleana; Cianitis chinensis and 22 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Kew accepts as species of their own Hydrangea hwangii; Hydrangea versicolor; Hydrangea wallichii: older names in GBIF's record of this species that Kew's World Checklist accepts as other species. (WCVP, RBG Kew, file of 2026-06-04)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipedia

The record

Family
Hydrangeaceae
Described by
(Lour.) Y.De Smet & C.Granados
Native to
China South-Central, China North-Central, China Southeast +14
Wild records
778 in range · 374 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 28 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (27 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 23.00_113.125, lapse-corrected +56 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 45 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…