Forsythia x intermedia
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- for-SYE-thee-uh ex in-tur-MEE-dee-uh
- Description
-
Drought and moderately salt tolerant; may develop suckers; prune oldest stems after flowering; rapid growth; many cultivars available. These plants are occasionally damaged by deer.
Quick ID Hints:
- Leaves are lanceolate, toothed, with a gland at apex
- Branches are square, 4-ridged, BROWN
- Flowers are yellow, bell-shaped, with 4 'petals'
Deciduous shrub to 10', erect, spreading and fountainlike.
Blooms in early spring before leaves appear; much of flowering impact is lost if heavily pruned before flowering; used on banks, in massing, in shrub borders.
Tolerates pollution, urban environments; soil adaptable; pH adaptable; easily transplanted; moderately rapid, cane-like growth; relatively pest/disease-free.
This species is an artificial hybrid.
VIDEO Created by Elizabeth Meyer for "Trees, Shrubs and Conifers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Collector’s Garden
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Chaenomeles'
- 'Gold Tide'
- 'Mindor'
- Primulina
- 'Chaenomeles'
- 'Chaenomeles', 'Gold Tide', 'Mindor', Primulina
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Chaenomeles'
- 'Gold Tide'
- 'Mindor'
- Primulina
- 'Chaenomeles'
- 'Chaenomeles', 'Gold Tide', 'Mindor', Primulina
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Forsythia
- Family:
- Oleaceae
- Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems):
- Drought and salt resistant.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 8 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 10 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in.
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-
Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Arching
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Texture:
- Medium
-
-
Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a
-
-
Fruit:
- Fruit Description:
- A 2-celled, dehiscent capsule, brown, ca 1/4" long, non-ornamental; seeds winged, many.
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-
Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Pale to deep yellow flowers in early spring; borne on one to two year-old growth. Solitary or clusters of 2-6 on old wood. (1-6) yellow, scentless, 1" long; corolla deeply 4-lobed, lobes spreading, campanulate; calyx 4-lobed.
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-
Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Purple/Lavender
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Opposite
- Leaf Shape:
- Lanceolate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Opposite, simple, medium to dark green leaves; 3-5 in. long; green to yellowish green fall color, sometimes purplish; holds late into fall. Lanceolate, acute with apicular gland, toothed on the upper half, medium to dark green above, lighter below, glabrous.
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-
Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Brown, 4-ridged, heavily lenticeled; pith chambered, sometimes hollow.
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-
Landscape:
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Salt
