Oriental paperbush

Description

Edgeworthia chrysantha (common names: Oriental paperbush, mitsumata) is a plant in the family Thymelaeaceae. The genus was named in honour of Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (1812–1881), an Irish-born Victorian era amateur botanist, who worked for the East India Company, and for his sister, writer Maria Edgeworth. The species name chrysantha derives from the Greek chrysos meaning 'golden' and 'anthos' meaning flower, due to the gold coloured flowers. Edgeworthia chrysantha is a deciduous shrub with dark green, leathery, single, alternate, lanceolate leaves, 8–13 cm long. It can reach a height of 2–2.5 m. Flowers are yellow and fragrant, in clusters at the branch tips. The flowering period extends from February to April. The bark fibres of this plants are used for making the handmade Japanese tissue called "mitsumata paper". Along with kōzo and gampi, it is used for making traditional Japanese paper (washi). Among other applications, mitsumata is used for banknotes as the paper is very durable. This species can be found in southwest China, Nepal, and Japan.