连翘 lian qiao

Ligustrum suspensum Thunberg, Nov. Act. Soc. Sci. Upsal. 3: 207. 1780; Forsythia fortunei Lindley; F. suspensa var. fortunei (Lindley) Rehder; F. suspensa var. latifolia Rehder; F. suspensa f. pubescens Rehder; F. suspensa var. sieboldii Zabel; Rangium suspensum (Thunberg) Ohwi; Syringa suspensa (Thunberg) Thunberg ex Murray.

Shrubs. Branches spreading or pendulous; branchlets yellow-brown or gray-brown; internodes hollow. Leaves simple, sometimes 3-parted to 3-foliolate; petiole 0.8-1.5 cm, glabrous or sometimes pubescent; leaf blade ovate, broadly ovate, or elliptic-ovate, 2-10 × 1.5-5 cm, subleathery, glabrous or sometimes pubescent, or abaxially villous, especially along veins, base rounded to cuneate, margin serrate, apex acute. Flowers solitary or 2 to several in leaf axils. Pedicel 5-6 mm. Calyx lobes oblong, (5-)6-7 mm, ciliate. Corolla yellow; tube subequal to calyx lobes; lobes obovate-oblong or oblong, 1.2-2 cm. Pistil 5-7 mm in flowers with stamens 3-5 mm or ca. 3 mm in flowers with stamens 6-7 mm. Capsule ovoid to long ellipsoid, 1.2-2.5 cm × 6-12 mm, with scattered lenticels; stalk 0.7-1.5 cm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Jul-Sep.

* Thickets or grassy areas on slopes, valleys, gullies; 300-2200 m. Anhui, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu (cultivated), Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan

The fruit are used as antipyretic and antidote. The plant is ornamental.

Because upright and pendulous branches are found on same plant, Forsythia suspensa var. fortunei does not merit recognition as a variety.