East Asian eurya

Description

Eurya japonica, known as East Asian eurya, is a 1–3.5 m tall shrub in the Pentaphylacaceae family found in eastern China, Korea, and Japan. It is used as an ornamental plant. In shinto it is a sacred tree, whose leafs are used as sacrificial offerings. Eurya is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants in the family Pentaphylacaceae. Several fossil seeds of Eurya stigmosa have been described from Middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in central Jutland, Denmark. Eurya macrofossils have also been described from late Zanclean strata of the Pliocene in Pocapaglia, Italy. Seed fossils of Eurya stigmosa were also reported from the Early Pleistocene (Calabrian stage) of Madeira Island (Atlantic Ocean, Portugal).