The Forsythia genus is a group of plants in the Oleaceae, or olive family. It includes 11 species of deciduous woody shrubs that bear bold yellow flowers in early spring.
Forsythia viridissima, sometimes commonly called green-stem forsythia, is an upright deciduous shrub that grows to 10’ tall on branches clad with elliptic-oblong to lanceolate leaves (to 6” long) that are toothed above the middle. Yellow green flowers (to 1” long) bloom in early spring. Genus name honors William Forsyth (1737-1804), Scottish superintendent of the Royal Gardens of Kensington Palace and author, among other works, of A Treatise on the Culture and Management of Fruit Trees which in its day was probably the most widely read work on the subject. Specific epithet means very green.
