Lian Qiao

Forsythia suspensa is a deciduous, arching to weeping shrub in the family Oleaceae, native to mountain valleys, scrublands, and forest margins of central and eastern China and now widely cultivated as an ornamental across temperate regions. The plant grows 1-3 m tall, producing long, slender, hollow or chambered branches that arch outward and often root where they touch the ground. The opposite leaves are ovate to lanceolate, 3-10 cm long, simple or sometimes trifoliolate on vigorous shoots, with serrate margins and a pointed apex. Bright yellow, bell-shaped flowers 2-3 cm across appear in clusters along the bare branches in early spring before the leaves expand, each with a deeply four-lobed corolla. The fruit is a brown, ovoid, beaked, woody dehiscent capsule about 1.5-2 cm long, splitting into two valves to release flat winged seeds. The dried fruits, collected when ripe, are the medicinal part.