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The "Shiraki" (Sapium japonicum) belongs to Euphorbiaceae (the Spurge family). It is a tall deciduous tree that is distributed from Iwate and Yamagata prefectures of Honshu south to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and China. It grows in mountainous beech forests and lowland secondary forests and can reach 5 to 6 m in height. The bark is grayish brown, and when the young branches are damaged, a milky white liquid is produced. The broad-ovate leaves are rather thick, have no serrations, and alternate in bright green. It is dioecious, and from May to July, racemes are borne on the tips of the branches, with male flowers on the top and female flowers on the bottom. In fall, the leaves turn from bright yellow to red. The Japanese name comes from the white color of the wood. In Chinese, it is called "白木烏桕" (bai mu wu jiu).
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