Ohwi 1985 Flora of Japan

Japan Flora: Japanese name: Ukon-utsugi.

Shrub with exfoliating bark, young branches with 2 longitudinal lines of hairs; leaves
oblong or narrowly ovate, acute or abruptiy acuminate, acutely toothed, short-pilose on nerves of upper surface, coarsely hairy beneath especially on nerves, subsessile; flowers 1 or 2 in upper leaf-axils and terminal on branchlets; calyx deeply bifid, the upper lobes broadly oblanceolate, 3-toothed, the lower lobes narrower, entire or 2-lobed; corolla 3.5-4 cm. long, pale yel-
low; capsules narrowly fusiform-oblong, 1.5-2 cm. long, longitudinally striate, glabrous, crowned with persistent calyx-lobes.

July.

Thickets on alpine slopes;

Hokkaido, Honshu (n. distr.). s. Kuriles, Sakhalin, Ussuri, Amur, and Ochotsk Sea region.

Russia Flora: Shrub up to 1.5 (2.5) m tall. Young shoots green, glabrous or hairy. Leaf blades elliptical or ovate-elliptical, acute at apex, cuneate or rounded-cuneate at base, serrate along margin, 7-11 (17) cm long and 2.5-5 (7) cm wide, more or less hairy along main and lateral veins on both sides. Petioles very short. Flowers 2-6 in axillary and upper half-umbels on common peduncles up to 3 cm long; pedicels 2-17 mm long. Bracts and bracteoles setiform, 2-10 mm long, rarely linear, up to 20 mm long. Calyx with tube about 8 mm long and almost equal bilabiate limb. Corolla tubular-campanulate, bilabiate, 3-4.5 cm long, pale yellow or white with yellow tinge on both sides, inside with bright yellow or brownish-red small spots under lower lip in throat. Capsule fusiform or ellipsoid, (12) 15-26 mm long and 3.5-7 mm wide. Seeds relatively large, 4-5 mm long, with elongated and pointed wings at ends. 2n=36 (Sokolovskaya, 1960, as "Diervilla middendorffiana").

Distribution: Okhotsk (south), North Sakhalin, North Kuril (Matua Island), Bureya, Amgun, Ussuri (Sikhote-Alin), South Sakhalin, South Kuril (Fig. 98). - Mainly in spruce-fir and stone birch forest zones, occurs in creeping pine zones, and in the south rises above the upper forest vegetation boundary. Flowering June-July. In flowering phase represents one of the most striking shrubs of Soviet Far East. Unfortunately not used in ornamental construction in the region.

General distribution: Japanese-Chinese (islands of Hokkaido and Honshu). - Described from cultivated specimen of unclear origin.