Shiraki (white wood) - Shiraki (English spelling) Sapium japonicum (Shirakia japonica)

Japanese: シラキ(白木) - シラキ（英語表記）Sapium japonicum(Shirakia japonica)

A deciduous tree of the Euphorbiaceae family. It is distributed in the warm temperate zone of East Asia. In Japan, it grows in the mountains of Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. The leaves are alternate, ovate, obovate, or elliptical, about 6-13 cm long, and pointed at the tip. There are 2-4 glandular bodies at the upper end of the petiole, and glandular spots at the end of the main vein on the underside of the leaf. Flowers appear in racemes at the ends of the branches from May to July. The inflorescence is about 8 cm long, with several female flowers at the bottom and many small male flowers above them. After the flowers, it produces a spherical capsule about 10 mm in diameter, which splits into three when ripe. The seeds hang from white threads and are yellowish-brown spheres about 7 mm in diameter.

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

Japanese:

トウダイグサ科の落葉小高木。東アジアの暖温帯に分布する。日本では本州，四国，九州，沖縄の山地に生える。葉は互生し卵形，倒卵形または楕円形で長さ6～13cmぐらいあり，先はとがる。葉柄の上端に2～4個の腺体があり，また葉の裏面のおもな支脈の先にも腺点がある。花は5～7月頃，枝先に総状花序につく。花序の長さは 8cm内外，下部に数個の雌花がつき，それより上には小さな雄花が多数つく。花のあと径 10mmほどの球状の蒴果を結び，熟すると3つに裂ける。種子は白い糸でぶらさがり，径 7mmほどの黄褐色の球形である。

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