Landscape Plants

Some 12-18 species of evergreen, small trees or shrubs. Leaves alternates, stipulate, ovate to elliptic to obovate, thick and leathery, margin entire or shallowly toothed.  Flowers in small axillary clusters, petals absent, 2-8 stamens, and 2 styles.  Fruit a hairy woody capsule with styles still attached.

Native to China (11 species endemic), northeast India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia

Apparently only two species are occasionally available in commerce, D. racemosum (Isu Tree) and D. myricoides (Blue Isu Tree).

Distylium: from the Greek, dis, twice and stylos, style, a reference to its flowers having two styles