Korean abeliophyllum
Abeliophyllum distichum · Oleaceae · 미선나무
How to spot it
Recognized by stepped (chambered) pith in the twigs, four-angled one-year-old twigs, flowers that open before the leaves, and round-elliptic samaras.
Look
- Leaves
- Leaves are opposite and in two rows, egg-shaped or elliptic-egg-shaped, 3-8 cm long and 0.5-3 cm wide, with smooth margins and a leaf stalk of 2-5 mm.
- Flowers
- Flower buds formed the previous year open before the leaves, in racemes. The corolla is white, pale yellow or slightly reddish, and blooms from mid-March to early April (per the National Species Knowledge Information System).
- Fruit
- The fruit is a round-elliptic samara about 25 mm in length and width, with a pinched tip, maturing in September.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native
- Native to
- Endemic to the Korean Peninsula, found on rocky talus in Chungcheongbuk-do and Jeollabuk-do.
- Ecology
- It grows readily on rocky ground and likes sunny places; growth is poor in dry places. Its cold hardiness is as strong as forsythia's, and it is weak against salt wind.