Description

Leaves: Opposite; once pinnately compound; 10" to 15" long; deciduous; 5 to 11 ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaflets, 2-1/2" to 4-1/2" long, entire margins, rounded or narrowed at base, dark green and lustrous above, glabrous to slightly hairy along veins beneath; yellow fall color.

Twigs/buds: Twigs stout; glabrous; orange-yellow to yellowish-gray eventually becoming brown; inner bark bright yellow-green on young stems.  No terminal bud; lateral buds silky, red or bronze, hidden by base of rachis when leaves are attached.

Flowers/fruit: Flowers dioecious, yellow-green, in small bunches; appear in late May to early June; inconspicuous.  Fruit a black drupe; round; 1/2" diameter; strong odor when crushed; ripens in October and may persist into winter; found only on female trees.

Bark: Gray; smooth when young; becoming furrowed in an interlacing pattern on older portions of trunk; thick and corky.

Wood: No information available.

General: Native to northern China, Manchuria, and Japan.  Shade intolerant.

Landscape Use: Good large landscape tree that is rarely planted.  Males usually are planted in landscapes to avoid fruit messiness.  Fairly pest-free and tolerant of a variety of soil and other site conditions.  Zones 3-8.

Cultivars: 'His Majesty', 'Macho', 'Shademaster' or 'RNI 4551'. 

Characteristics