Abelia R. Br.

Species of Abelia are shrubs from 1–6 m tall. Species from warm climates are evergreen, and colder climate species deciduous. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, ovate, glossy, dark green, 1.5–8 cm long, turning purplish-bronze to red in autumn in the deciduous species. The flowers appear in the upper leaf axils and stem ends, 1-8 together in a short cyme; they are pendulous, white to pink, bell-shaped with a five-lobed corolla, 1–5 cm long, and usually scented. Flowering continues over a long and continuous period from late spring to fall.

Some of these species are cultivated as ornamental garden plants, and may still be described as Abelia in horticultural listings. A notable example is the hybrid Abelia × grandiflora.