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The Chinese fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus) belongs to Oleaceae (the Olive family). It is a tall deciduous tree that is distributed disjunctively in Gifu and Nagano-prefecture of Hoshu, the Tsushima Islands of Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and a few part of China. In May, panicles with whitish 4-devided flowers are seen at the tips of new branches. Fruits are oval and ripen black in fall. Its Japanese name comes from its one-leafed "tago" (toneriko). It is said to have been named by Toyofumi Mizutani (1179-1833), a herbalist of the Edo period. Until then, it was called "Nanja-monja". In Taiwanese, it is called "流蘇樹", and in Chinese "流蘇樹" (liu su shu).
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