Phellodendron japonicum
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Phellodendron japonicum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Synonyms
- Phellodendron amurense var. japonicum (Maxim.) Ohwi
- Phellodendron amurense Maxim.
Editorial Note
The most recent revision of this genus (Ma et al. 2006) recognises only two species (Phellodendron chinense and P. amurense), treating P. japonicum as synonymous with P. amurense.
A deciduous, bushy-headed tree, of stiff habit, 20 to 35 ft high, its trunk 1 to 2 ft in thickness. Leaves 10 to 15 in. long, pinnate, with seven to fifteen leaflets, which are very downy beneath, dull green, and soon nearly or quite glabrous above, broadly ovate, pointed, oblique at the base, 2 to 3 in. long, with a short stalk. Panicle of male flowers about 4 in. long, and 2 in. wide, erect; the female one more slender. Flowers 1⁄4 in. across, yellowish green. Fruits orange-shaped, black, each nearly 1⁄2 in. across, borne on an erect downy panicle.
Native of Japan; introduced about 1870. It is distinguished from the other species by the thick, greyish down beneath the leaflets, and by their broader proportions. A well-grown tree is handsome when in full leaf and fruit. It flowers in July.
The example at Kew measures 35 × 5 ft (1967) [ 33 × 51⁄2 ft in 1981] and there is another in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden of the same size, planted in 1898 [42 × 51⁄2 ft in 1981]; also one at Auchinruive, Ayrs., 42 × 81⁄2 ft at 1 ft (1979) [from the Supplement].
