Forsythia

Forsythia

(Forsythia x intermedia)

Olive Family (Oleaceae)

▲ ▼ flowering shrubs in spring

▲ ▼ flowers

▲ shrub in summer

▲ foliage

(this plant can be found in the open space at southwest corner of Kings and Normal St. in Springfield, MO, south of MSU campus)

Forsythia x intermedia: Forsythia

• leaves deciduous, opposite, simple, lanceolate with serrated margins; dark shiny green above, yellow green below; leaves 3-5" long and 1/2 as wide
• stems are golden brown to yellow brown with prominent lenticels; pith chambered between nodes & solid at nodes
• flowers yellow, axillary, 4-petalled, appearing in early spring before leaves on previous year’s growth
• habit is a rounded shrub with arching, drooping branches, growing 8-10' tall and as wide or wider; produces suckers from base and stems root where they touch the ground, causing a increasingly large shrub, if not kept in bounds with pruning
• needs full sun for best flowering, but adaptable in terms of growth; tolerates about any soil
• very fast growth rate