Cork Tree

Phellodendron sachalinense Rutaceae

Growth habit

Tree

Perennation

Long-lived polycarpic perennial

Native distribution

Sachalin, N. Japan, Korea, and W. China

Location

Beech Collection

Source of plant

University of Guelph Arboretum, Cornell Botanic Gardens

Description

Tree reaching 7 m (15 m) in height, with straight trunk and broad crown; bark dark brown, thin, not corky,finely channeled and eventually plate-like, twigs red-brown; leaves 22 to 30 cm long, leaflets 7 to 11 (15), ovate to oval-oblong, 6 to 12 cm long, acuminate, base round, dull green above (!), bluish and glabrousor nearly so beneath, margins slightly ciliate or not so, flowers in nearly glabrous (!), 6 to 8 cm longpanicles; fruits 1 cm thick, black (DS 6). More vase-shaped than P. amurense, and larger-growing,reaching 50' to 60' in height. Although the literature states the bark to be non-corky, I do not find this tobe true; slightly hardier than P. amurense, and extremely fast-growing (DS 9).

USDA Hardiness Zone

3