''Prunus spinulosa'' is an evergreen species of cherry-laurel native to southeastern

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 ...

and warmer parts of

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 ...

. Its lustrous leaves superficially resemble those of

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

. Individual trees can reach 20m, and are typically found growing in places with high ambient humidity, such as forested areas near larger rivers.

References

spinulosa Trees of China Trees of Japan Plants described in 1845 Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini {{prunus-stub