Forsythia koreana

Forsythia koreana

Like the other Korean endemic forsythias, F. koreana has a tiny and vulnerable wild population. In their 2010 study, Shin et al. were able to find just twelve plants at three sites, three of these at the seedling stage; they described the habitat as secondary woodland dominated by Pinus densiflora and invasive Robinia pseudoacacia (Shin et al. 2010). If the species were to be evaluated by the IUCN, it would qualify as Critically Endangered, though in its favour is Forsythia’s capacity to persist indefinately by layering and suckering. F. koreana can be differentiated from the Korean species which it most closely resembles, F. saxatilis, by its often smaller glabrous leaves with less impressed veins, and its slightly larger and more brilliant yellow flowers (Lee, Kim & Hong 1982). The cultivated plant described by Bean (1981), presumably at Kew, had significantly larger leaves.