Japanese Kerria, Japanese Rose               KER-e-a ja-PON-i-ka

• Deciduous shrub, 4-8 ft (1.2-2.5 m), arching, lanky, suckers; stems slender and green, even in winter.  Leaves alternate, simple, 2.5-10 cm long, width about half that, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, double serrate, bright green.  Flowers bright yellow, about 3 cm wide, 5-petaled.  Fruit a single seeded, fleshy but eventually dry (drupe).
• Sun, part shade, adaptable to most soils.  Useful in naturalizing.  A good, long lasting, cut flower if cut early in spring.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Native to central and western China, several cultivars available.
• japonica: of Japan.