Kerria japonica is a woody plant; let us get to know this flowering plant

The family and genus of Kerria japonica

Kerria japonica is a shrub in the genus Kerria, subfamily Rosoideae, and belongs to the woody plants.

Other names of Kerria japonica

Kerria japonica is also called Di Tang, Feng Tang Hua, Huang Du Mei, Jin Di Tang Mei, and Huang Yu Mei.

Origin of Kerria japonica

It is native to China from North China to South China, and is distributed in Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Henan, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Beijing, Tianjin and other provinces.

Morphological characteristics of Kerria japonica

Kerria japonica grows up to 1-2 m tall; the branchlets are green, cylindrical, and hairless.

The leaves are alternate, triangular-ovate or ovate-orbicular, with a long acuminate apex and a rounded base; the petiole is 5-10 mm long and hairless.

The flowers are solitary, borne at the tips of lateral branches of the current year, with hairless pedicels; the flower diameter is 2.5-6 cm; the sepals are ovate-elliptic, acute at the apex, with a small mucro, entire, hairless, and persistent in fruit; the petals are yellow, broadly elliptic, concave at the apex, and 1-4 times longer than the sepals.

The achene is obovoid to hemispherical, brown or dark brown, hairless, and wrinkled.

Kerria japonica blooms from April to June, and the fruiting period is from June to August.