The "Otoko-youzome" (Viburnum phlebotrichum) belongs to Caprifoliaceae (the Honeysuckle family). It is a small deciduous tree that is distributed westward from Kanto district of Honshu to Shikoku and Kyushu in Japan. This tree grows in sunny mountains and can reach about 2 m in height. The leaves are ovate and opposite with coarse toothed edges. The petioles are tinged reddish and the leaf blades have valleculas on adverse sides. The pale rose-pink tinged white flowers come in April to May. The fruits are ripen in red in fall, though they are not edible. The Japanese name is derived from "yozome," a dialect word for "gamazume" (Linden viburnum) in the Kiso and Shimoina regions of Nagano prefecture, and "otoko" (male) is from the fact that it is thin and inedible. The leaves turn black when withered or damaged.