Fortune's fontanesia carries two botanical legacies in its name: the French botanist Desfontaines in its genus, and Robert Fortune — the intrepid 19th-century plant hunter who smuggled tea plants out of China — in its species epithet. Native to China, where it can reach 30 feet in the wild, it settles comfortably into garden life at 10 to 15 feet, producing short panicles of greenish-white flowers in midsummer before retreating into the background.

What this shrub offers above all else is durability. It tolerates poor soils, urban grime, and extended dry spells with equanimity once established, and its glossy leaves — ranging from 1 to 5 inches long — hold their color through winter. Useful where a fast-growing, low-fuss screen is needed, it roots easily from cut branches. Not a plant for drama, but one for the long haul.