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The "Muku-no-ki" (Aphananthe aspera) belongs to Ulmaceae (the Elm family). It is a tall deciduous tree that is distributed widely westward from Kanto district of Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, as well as Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia. This tree grows in sunny hillsides and can reach 15-20 m in height. The barks are gray-brown, and furrowed into scaly ridges when aging. The leaves are oblong and alternate with caudal tips. The inconspicuous yellowish-green flowers come in April to May, as soon as foliation. The fruits are drupes and ripen from black-purple to black in October. The flesh of fruits are sweet and edible. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "糙葉樹" and "糙葉樹" (cao ye shu) in Chinese.
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