Alnus pendula ("Himeyashabushi")

Japanese name: ヒメヤシャブシ （姫夜叉五倍子）
Scientific name: Alnus pendula

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub or small tree 4–7 m tall, found mainly in heavy-snow regions on the Sea of Japan side and growing in landslide areas and similar places in hills to mountains.
It branches well.
Leaves are simple and alternate, ovate-lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, with 20–26 pairs of lateral veins.
The leaf margins have fine double serration.
There are male and female flowers, which bloom at about the same time as the leaves unfold.
The male flowers grow on cylindrical catkins 4–6 cm long, hanging down in groups of 1–3 at the branch tips.
The male catkins have no stalk.
The male flowers are small and borne in threes beside scale-like bracts; the perianth is 4-lobed and there are 4 stamens.
The female flowers grow on cone-like inflorescences, hanging down in groups of 3–6 below the male catkins.
The female flowers have no perianth.
The fruiting spike is elliptical and cone-like, 1.5–2 cm long, with the fruits attached to the inner surface of the scales.
The fruit is a flattened nut with wings on both sides, and the style remains at the tip.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
Thanks to symbiotic microbes, it grows well even in poor soil.
Plant it in a sunny place.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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