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Alangium platanifolium
3-665.16.17Family: Cornaceae, formerly Alangiaceae.
Region: East Asia, Japan, Korea, parts of China.
Habitat: in temperate forests, hillsides, and stream banks; prefers moist, well-drained soils, slightly acidic to neutral pH; partially shaded to fully shaded environments; medicinal, in traditional medicine.BotanyShrub or small tree; deciduous; 2 to 6 meters tall.
Root: fibrous root system.
Leaves: simple; entire or lobed; alternate; broadly ovate to heart-shaped; palmate veins; resembling plane tree; turning yellow in the fall.
Inflorescence: small; axillary cymes.
Flowers: small; white to cream-colored; tubular; six to ten petals; fragrant; blooming in late spring to early summer; 4 to 10 small sepals; 4 to 10 linear petals; 4 to 40 stamens distributed in a single cycle; ovary is inferior, bilocular, sometimes unilocular; bisexual, rarely unisexual; nectariferous.
Fruits: small; spherical to ellipsoid; drupes; single-seeded; blue-black when ripe.
Pollination: by bees, other insects.
Seeds: bitegmic.DD Cornaceae:Taxonomy
In 2011, a DNA analysis showed that Alangium is sister to Cornus. Since 1939, Alangium has been divided into four sections: Conostigma, Rhytidandra, Marlea, and Alangium.One species, Alangium chinense (Chinese: 八角枫; pinyin: bā jiǎo fēng), is considered one of the fifty fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
Region: East Asia, Japan, Korea, parts of China.
Habitat: in temperate forests, hillsides, and stream banks; prefers moist, well-drained soils, slightly acidic to neutral pH; partially shaded to fully shaded environments; medicinal, in traditional medicine.BotanyShrub or small tree; deciduous; 2 to 6 meters tall.
Root: fibrous root system.
Leaves: simple; entire or lobed; alternate; broadly ovate to heart-shaped; palmate veins; resembling plane tree; turning yellow in the fall.
Inflorescence: small; axillary cymes.
Flowers: small; white to cream-colored; tubular; six to ten petals; fragrant; blooming in late spring to early summer; 4 to 10 small sepals; 4 to 10 linear petals; 4 to 40 stamens distributed in a single cycle; ovary is inferior, bilocular, sometimes unilocular; bisexual, rarely unisexual; nectariferous.
Fruits: small; spherical to ellipsoid; drupes; single-seeded; blue-black when ripe.
Pollination: by bees, other insects.
Seeds: bitegmic.DD Cornaceae:Taxonomy
In 2011, a DNA analysis showed that Alangium is sister to Cornus. Since 1939, Alangium has been divided into four sections: Conostigma, Rhytidandra, Marlea, and Alangium.One species, Alangium chinense (Chinese: 八角枫; pinyin: bā jiǎo fēng), is considered one of the fifty fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.