Paper mulberry (Broussonetia kazinoki)

Japanese: コウゾ(楮) - コウゾ（英語表記）Broussonetia kazinoki; paper mulberry

A deciduous shrub of the mulberry family, found in western Japan and the Korean peninsula. It grows wild in mountainous areas, but is widely cultivated on the edges of rice fields as a raw material for papermaking. The leaves are often ovate, but often have two or three lobes like mulberry leaves. Wild ones reach a height of 2m and spread their branches, but cultivated ones do not grow large because they are pruned every year like mulberry. They are monoecious and produce spherical inflorescences in July. The male inflorescences are at the base of the branches, and the female inflorescences are at the top of the branches. In the past, cloth was woven from the fibers of the bark and called yu (cotton). To make washi paper (kozo paper), branches cut in winter are steamed, the bark is removed, dried, beaten to loosen the fibers, bleached, and made into paper. It is produced in large quantities in Kochi Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, and Kumamoto Prefecture.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

クワ科の落葉低木で，西日本および朝鮮半島に分布する。山地に自生するが，製紙の原料として田のへりなどに広く栽培される。葉は卵形のものが多いが，しばしばクワの葉のように2～3裂する。自生するものでは高さ 2mに達し枝を張るが，栽培のものはクワと同様毎年刈込むために大きくはならない。雌雄同株で，7月頃に球状に固まった花序をつける。雄花序は枝の基部に，雌花序は枝の上部に生じる。古くは樹皮の繊維で布を織り，ユウ (木綿) と呼んだ。和紙 (こうぞ紙) の製造は冬に刈取った枝を蒸してから皮をはぎ，一度乾燥してからたたいて繊維を解きほぐし，漂白したのち紙にすく。高知県をはじめ，山口県や佐賀，熊本両県などで生産が多い。

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