|
"Han-no-ki" (Alnus japonica) belongs to Betulaceae (the Birch family). It is a tall deciduous tree that is distributed all over Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, China and the Ussuri. This tree grows in swampy flats or moors, and can reach 10-20 m in height. The bark is purplish brown and irregularly-furrowed shallowly. The leaves are ovate-oblong withirregularly low toothed edges, and arranged in alternate. The male clusters are drooping down at the terminal branches, and the female clusters are borne under the male ones. The fruits are nuts and ripen around October. In Tawanese Chinese, it is called "台灣赤楊".
|