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"Maruba-chisha-no-ki" (Ehretia dicksonii) belongs to Boraginaceae (the Borage family). It is a semi-tall deciduous tree that is distributed westward from southern Chiba prefecture of Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, Taiwan and China. This tree grows in forest edges of coastal mountains, and can reach 7-9 m in height. The barks are gray-white and deep furrowed longitudially. The leaves are broad elliptic with steep acute tips, and arranged in alternate. The corymbs are borne on the terminal branches, and the small white flowers bloom in profusion from March to July. The fruits are globose to flat-globose, and drupes, and the fleshes of fruits are sweetish and edible.
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