こくてんぎ (黒檀木) [Index] [Back] わが国の九州、熊本県および鹿児島県、南西諸島それに台湾や中国南部に分布しています。海岸近くの石灰岩地に生え、高さは３〜５メートルになります。幹は直立し、樹皮は灰褐色から灰白色で滑らか、縦に浅い溝や皮目が入ります。葉は楕円形で革質、長さ１０センチほど、先端は尖り、３輪生します。２月から５月ごろ、葉腋から集散花序を出し、緑白色の花を咲かせます。果実は球形で４稜があり、秋に紫褐色に熟します。別名では「くろとちゅう（黒杜仲）」。台湾華語では「厚葉衛矛」、中国語では「肉花衛矛（rou hua wei mao）」と呼ばれます。 ニシキギ科ニシキギ属の常緑低木で、学名は Euonymus carnosus (syn. Euonymus tanakae)。英名は Fleshy-flowered spindletree。 The Fleshy-flowered spindletree (Euonymus carnosus) belongs to Celastraceae (the Bittersweet family). It is a small evergreen tree that is distributed from Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures in Kyushu, the Nansei Islands, as well as Taiwan and southern China. It grows in limestone areas near the coast and reaches a height of 3 to 5 m. The trunk is erect, and the bark is smooth, ranging from grayish-brown to grayish-white, with shallow vertical grooves and lenticels. The leaves are elliptical and leathery, about 10 cm long, with pointed tips, and arranged in whorls of three. From February to May, it produces corymbs from the leaf axils, bearing greenish-white flowers. The fruit is spherical with four ridges and ripens to a purplish-brown color in the fall. It is also known as "Kuro-tochu" (black eucommia). In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "厚葉衛矛", and in Chinese, "肉花衛矛" (rou hua wei mao). 茨城県つくば市「つくば実験植物園」にて、2026年03月28日撮影。 Shu Suehiro shu@botanic.jp