| Forsythia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Forsythia ×intermedia | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Oleaceae |
| Tribe: | Forsythieae |
| Genus: | Forsythia Vahl |
| Type species | |
| Forsythia suspensa | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
RangiumJuss. in G.-F.Cuvier | |
| Forsythia | |||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 連翹 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 连翘 | ||||||||||||||||
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Forsythia/fɔːrˈsɪθiə/,/fɔːrˈsaɪθiə/[2] is agenus offlowering plants in the olivefamily Oleaceae. There are about 11species, mostlynative toEastern Asia, but one native toSoutheastern Europe.[1]Forsythia – also one of the plant's common names – is named after thebotanistWilliam Forsyth.[3][4][5]
Forsythia aredeciduousshrubs typically growing to a height of 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) and, rarely, up to 6 m (20 ft) with rough grey-brown bark. The leaves are borne oppositely and are usuallysimple, though sometimes trifoliate with a basal pair of small leaflets; they range between 2 and 10 cm (0.79 and 3.94 in) in length and, rarely, up to 15 cm (5.9 in), with a margin that is serrated or entire (smooth). Twigs may be hollow or chambered, depending on the species.[6]
The flowers are produced in the early spring before the leaves, bright yellow with a deeply four-lobedcorolla, the petals joined only at the base. These become pendent in rainy weather thus shielding the reproductive parts.The fruit is a dry capsule, containing several winged seeds.[3][7]
There is a long-standing belief that forsythia flowers producelactose, but lactose occurs only very rarely in natural sources other than milk, and attempts to find lactose in forsythia have been unsuccessful.[8]
The genus is named afterWilliam Forsyth (1737–1804), a Scottishbotanist who was a royal head gardener and a founding member of theRoyal Horticultural Society.[9]
The following species ofForsythia have been documented:[3][4][5][7][10][11][12][excessive citations]
A genetic study[14] does not fully match the traditionally accepted species listed above, and groups the species in fourclades: (1)F. suspensa; (2)F. europaea—F. giraldiana; (3)F. ovata—F. japonica—F. viridissima; and (4)F. koreana—F. mandschurica—F. saxatilis. Of the additional species,F. koreana is usually cited as a variety ofF. viridissima, andF. saxatilis as a variety ofF. japonica;[15] the genetic evidence suggests they may be better treated as distinct species.
Forsythias are used as food plants by thelarvae of someLepidoptera species including thebrown-tail andGothic moth.[citation needed]
Two species of forsythia are at the heart of the selected forms and garden hybrids:Forsythia suspensa andF. viridissima. "These two species are, as it were, the founder-members of the forsythia family" writesAlice Coats; they were the earliest species brought into Western gardens from the Far East and they have each played a role in the modern garden shrubs.[16]
Forsythia suspensa, the first to be noticed by a Westerner, was seen in a Japanese garden by the botanist-surgeonCarl Peter Thunberg, who included it (as a lilac) in hisFlora Japonica 1784. Thunberg's professional connections lay with theDutch East India Company, andF. suspensa reached Holland first, by 1833. In England, when it was being offered byVeitch Nurseries in Exeter at mid-century, it was still considered a rarity. Not all the varieties ofsuspensa are splaying and drooping, best seen hanging over a retaining wall; an erect form found by Fortune nearPeking in 1861 was for a time classed as a species—F. fortunei.[16]
Forsythia viridissima, meanwhile, had overtaken it in European gardens. The Scottish plant-hunterRobert Fortune "discovered" it—in a mandarin garden of the coastal city ofChusan (Zhoushan)—before he ever saw it growing wild in the mountains inZhejiang province.[16]
Forsythia ×intermedia, as its name suggests, is ahybrid ofF. suspensa andF. viridissima, introduced in continental Europe about 1880. Repeated crosses of the same two parents have made reiterations ofF. ×intermedia quite variable. Abud sport of a particularly showy (spectabilis) form is widely marketed asF. ×intermedia 'Lynwood Variety'.[16] Thiscultivar has gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit,[17] as haveF. ×intermedia Week End 'Courtalyn'[18] andF. Marée d'Or 'Courtasol'.[19]
About the time of the First World War further species were discovered by plant hunters in China:F. giraldian (found in Gansu, 1910) andF. ovata (collected from seed in Korea byE.H. Wilson) have been particularly useful as seed parents in 20th-century American crosses.[16]
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Forsythia are early spring-flowering shrubs with yellow blooms,[20] often seen in private gardens, public landscaping works and parks—notably duringEastertide, when some of the plants are nicknamedEaster Tree in honor of the coming spring.[21] Two species/hybrids are commonly cultivated for ornamental use,Forsythia × intermedia andF. suspensa. They are grown in several climates andgardening zones, prized for being tough and reliableperennial plants.F. × intermedia is the more commonly grown, smaller plant and has an upright habit with vivid flowers.F. suspensa is a large to very large shrub with paler blossoms, and can be grown in a weeping shape on banks. Many named garden cultivars can also be found. BuddingForsythia cuttings are frequently brought indoors, for their opening blooms, in the early spring.[7]
Vegetativepropagation is usually achieved viacuttings, taken from green wood after flowering in late spring to early summer. Alternatively, cuttings may be taken between November and February, though this may reduce the flowering spectacle of the following spring.[22] Low-hanging boughs that touch the ground will often take root, adding to the total mass of the plant, but can be removed for transplanting. A common practice (known aslayering) is to place a weight over a branch to keep it on the ground and, after it has rooted, to dig up the roots and cut the rooted part from the main branch; this can then be planted.
Forsythia suspensa is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs inChinese herbology.[23]Forsythia fruits find use inTraditional Chinese medicine in the treatment ofbacterial infections andupper respiratory disease, by virtue of theirantipyretic andanti-inflammatory properties. When used for these purposes, they are combined with other herbs - most notably with the flowers of certain species ofLonicera (honeysuckle). Furthermore, the fruits are also employed as adiuretic and as a 'cardiovascular tonic'. The species involved in such use areForsythia suspensa, F. koreana, andF. viridissima.[24]
Forsythia sticks are used tobow a Korean stringed instrument called anajaeng.[25]
In some regions, the plant may be known asEaster tree and the flowers asyellow bells.[citation needed] In Iran, the plant is known as "yellow Jasmine".
Yellow flowers appear before foliage in February or March and last through April or May.
Pruning should be done immediately after spring flowering; if done after mid-July, you will likely remove flower buds for the following spring. To rejuvenate an older plant, you can cut it back almost ground level.
Media related toForsythia at Wikimedia Commons| National | |
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