Inugashi - Inugashi

It is an evergreen small tree of the Lauraceae family (APG classification: Lauraceae) with dark brown bark and green young branches. The leaves are thin, but strong and glossy, elliptical, without sawtooth, and have three prominent veins. Flowers grow in clusters in the leaf axils from March to April, and are reddish purple. Dioecious. The fruit ripens to a dark purple color. It is distributed from the Boso Peninsula of Honshu westward to Kyushu, Okinawa, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan. Its name comes from the fact that it resembles an oak but is not a member of that family. It is also called pine cinnamon. The white alder is similar to this species, but differs in that it blooms yellow flowers in autumn and has red fruit that ripens the following autumn.

[Yuichi Kadota, August 21, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

クスノキ科（APG分類：クスノキ科）の常緑小高木で、樹皮は暗褐色、若枝は緑色。葉は質が薄いが、じょうぶで光沢があり、楕円(だえん)形、鋸歯(きょし)がなく、3本の葉脈が目だつ。花は3～4月、葉腋(ようえき)に固まってつき、紅紫色。雌雄異株。果実は黒紫色に熟す。本州の房総半島以西から九州、沖縄、さらに朝鮮半島、台湾に分布する。名は、カシに似るがカシの仲間ではないことによる。マツラニッケイともいう。なお、シロダモは本種に似るが、秋に黄色の花を開き、翌年の秋に果実が紅(あか)く熟す点で異なる。

［門田裕一　2018年8月21日］

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