:Idesia'' as established by Scopoli is a

suppressed name A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules whic ...

; see '' Diospyros. ''Idesia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae (formerly placed in the family Flacourtiaceae), comprising the single species ''Idesia polycarpa''. It is native to eastern Asia in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Korea, and Taiwan.Flora of China
''Idesia'' (genus page)''Idesia polycarpa'' (species page)
/ref> It is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching a height of 8–21 m, with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter with smooth greyish-green

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

. The shoots are greyish-brown, stout, with a thick pith core. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are large, heart-shaped, 8–20 cm long and 7–20 cm broad, with a red 4–30 cm petiole bearing two or more glands; the leaves are dark green above, glaucous below, and have a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are small, yellowish green, fragrant, and born in

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s 13–30 cm long. It is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

with male and female flowers on separate trees; the male flowers are 12–16 mm diameter, the female flowers 9 mm diameter. The fruit is a

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

5–10 mm diameter, ripening orange to dark purple-red, containing several 2–3 mm brown seeds, and often persisting until the following spring.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .

Cultivation and uses

The fruit is edible either raw or cooked.Tanaka, T. (1976). ''Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World''. Keigaku Publishing. The species is occasionally grown as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in other temperate regions including Europe. File:Idesia trunk.jpg, Trunk File:Idesia leaves.jpg, Leaves File:Idesia flowers.jpg, Flowers File:Idesia fruit.jpg, Fruit

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1284309, from2=Q3147858 Salicaceae Trees of China Trees of Japan Trees of Korea Trees of Taiwan Dioecious plants Monotypic Malpighiales genera Salicaceae genera