Forsythia

forsythia (fôrsĭth`ēə), common name for any member of the small genus Forsythia of the family Oleaceae (olive family), European and Asian shrubs with abundant bell-shaped yellow flowers that appear before the leaves. They are easily cultivated and are used in hedges and borders. In some species the branches droop and in others they grow erect. Forsythia branches are often cut in early spring and forced into bloom indoors. Forsythia are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Scrophulariales, family Oleaceae.

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forsythia

Any of the seven species of ornamental shrubs that make up the genus Forsythia, in the olive family, native to eastern Europe and East Asia. In some species the yellow flowers borne along the stems appear before the leaves in early spring. The narrow leaves occasionally have three parts; the star-shaped flowers have four. Common forsythia (F. intermedia) has arching stems to about 20 ft (6 m) and bright yellow flowers.

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forsythia

any oleaceous shrub of the genus Forsythia, native to China, Japan, and SE Europe but widely cultivated for its showy yellow bell-shaped flowers, which appear in spring before the foliage

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Forsythia 

a genus of plants of the family Oleaceae. Forsythias are deciduous shrubs with opposite leaves that are usually simple. The bright yellow flowers are usually solitary and grow in racemes; they sometimes grow in groups of two or three. They appear long before or simultaneously with the leaves. The fruit is a capsule with winged seeds. Of the genus’ seven species, F. europaea is native to southeastern Europe, and the rest are native to East Asia.

Forsythias are very beautiful in flower and are cultivated in many countries. In the USSR they are grown in the European portion of the country as far north as Leningrad, as well as in the Caucasus and Middle Asia. The species most often cultivated are F. suspensa and F. viridissima and their hybrid F. × intermedia. F. suspensa is used in Chinese folk medicine.

REFERENCE

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 5. Moscow-Leningrad, 1960.