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• Forsythia suspensa

Forsythia suspensa — weeping forsythia

Facts

Weeping forsythia is native to China and popularly planted in North America for its arching branches that bear numerous, early-blooming, yellow flowers. The tips of its arching stems can root when they touch the ground; thus, the plant can spread. Its stems can be trained to twine like vines, making for a nice privacy hedge or garden border.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests, meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower appearance

  the flowers appear before the leaves

  Flower petal color

  yellow or green

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower does not have a hypanthium

  Inflorescence hairs

  • there are hairs on some part of the inflorescence
  • there are no hairs on the inflorescence

  Inflorescence position

  the inflorescences grow on the twigs

  Inflorescence type

  • the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)
  • the inflorescence has only one flower on it
  • the inflorescence is a fascicle (compact cluster of flowers)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are fused to form a tube, cup, or bell shape

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Stamen number

  1 or 2

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

• Leaves

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  60–100 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade texture

  • the leaf blade is coriaceous (has a firm, leathery texture)
  • the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf blade width

  15–50 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf midrib glands

  the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf teeth

  the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  • the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
  • the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf is compound, with three leaflets
  • the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant, or they fall off as the leaf expands

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  • the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
  • the branch is roughly square or rectangular in cross-section, with four sides and four edges

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • yellow

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae