Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
Monique Gudgeon, Sculpture by the Lakes

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Abeliophyllum distichum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abeliophyllum/abeliophyllum-distichum/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Genus

Abeliophyllum

Common Names

miseonnamu
White Forsythia
Korean Abelialeaf

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Abeliophyllum distichum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/abeliophyllum/abeliophyllum-distichum/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Abeliophyllum distichum flowering at RHS Garden Wisley, UK, March 2019. Image John Grimshaw.

A deciduous shrub 3 ft or more high; young shoots glabrous, grooved on opposite sides, making them four-angled, slightly warted. Leaves opposite, in two ranks, simple, entire, ovate to oval, 2 to 31⁄2 in. long, slender-pointed, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, hairy on both surfaces; stalk very short. Flowers white or faintly tinged with pink on opening, borne in axillary racemes 1⁄2 to 11⁄2 in. long of three to fifteen; petals four, oblong, 3⁄8 in. long, 1⁄10 in. wide, notched at the apex; calyx 1⁄8 in. long with four rounded, ciliate lobes; stamens two, anthers yellow, filaments 1⁄12 in. long; calyx and flower-stalk glabrous, very darkly coloured. The fruit recalls that of an elm, being compressed, almost circular, and edged all around with a wing. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 10.

Native of Korea; introduced in 1924. It is a beautiful early-flowering shrub but comes from a region where, although the winters are much colder than here, the summers are decidedly hotter. For this reason, no doubt, it has not been generally successful as an open-ground plant but might be tried on a wall, as in the R.H.S. Garden at Wisley, where it will grow to 8 ft or more high. The wood deteriorates after a few seasons and should be renewed fairly frequently by pruning heavily immediately after flowering is over. It is propagated by cuttings of half-ripened wood, taken in July, or by layers.

Abeliophyllum distichum is a beautiful early-flowering shrub with white flowers, here faintly tinged with pink. Meise Botanic Garden (20080035–65), Belgium. 7 February 2020. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

2020 was a very floriferous year for Abeliophyllum distichum in Belgium, all the branchlets sprinkled with white. Meise Botanic Garden (20080035–65). 7 February 2020. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Abeliophyllum distichum at RHS Garden Wisley, UK, February 2023. Image MC de Laubarède.

Abeliophyllum distichum fruit, photographed at the Szarvasi Arboretum, Hungary, in mid-September 2019. Image Tom Christian.

Abeliophyllum distichum with flowering racemes developing in early autumn at Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 26 September 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Abeliophyllum distichum is not renown for its autumn colour, but against a dark wall, like here in Arboretum Gaston Allard in Angers, France, it can be quite striking. 7 October 2023. Image Tom Christian.

A very attractive specimen of Abeliophyllum distichum cultivated in a pot. Meise Botanic Garden (20080035–65), Belgium. 22 September 2017. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Native to Korea, Abeliophyllum distichum is a perfect shrub for regions with long winters. This specimen belongs to the Roseum Group. Meise Botanic Garden (20080035–65), Belgium. 22 September 2017. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

The fairly ordinary foliage of Abeliophyllum distichum can develop beautiful autumn colours. The photographer's garden in Blandain, Belgium. 6 August 2011. Image Guillaume Mamdy.

Close up on the simple, entire leaves of Abeliophyllum distichum. The photographer's garden in Blandain, Belgium. 27 September 2013. Image Guillaume Mamdy.