The Asian Forsythias
of Westmount Park

The remarkable story behind the beautiful yellow bushes that herald the Springtime

By Michael Walsh

May 23, 2024

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.

– Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Forsythia blooms – Image: Michael Walsh

Springtime is a time of year when one realizes the extent of colour deprivation that occurred during the long winter months. It is made evident during March’s startling sea of yellow blossoms that emerge on a particular bush well before the emergence leaves on the surrounding canopy of trees. While the nearby tree branches are starting to draw sugars from their root system to begin their growing season, these shrubs are in full bloom, attracting their bee pollinators.

These remarkable shrubs belong to the genus Forsythia and are a member of the Oleaceae family. As the name suggests, they are related to the olive tree native to Syria and Asia Minor.

Like all species in the plant kingdom, each has a unique story – Forsythias are no exception.

Carl Peter Thunberg – Image: Jacob Fredrik Ek, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

These shrubs are a transplant from China (named liánqiáo) and they have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine since the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Even today, they are the most frequently prescribed drug in the Far East.

In fact, a literature review reveals the extent of the current research into the therapeutic effects of the plant’s fruits. (Interestingly, a large proportion of these studies were conducted at Chinese research and academic centres.) These studies suggest that the plant contains 230 compounds – 211 of which are contained within the fruit. Of these, the lignins (that provide the plant’s supportive tissue) and glycosides (stored sugar compounds) comprise the active ingredients. Studies show that these compounds exhibit a variety of effects, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-virus, anti-cancer and anti-allergy. In addition, they are used to treat ulcerative colitis and Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Martin Vahl – Image: Public Domain

In 2020, eighty-five percent of SARS-COVID-2 infected patients in China were treated successfully using traditional medicinal herbs. In no small part, this therapeutic regime also elicits no unwanted side effects or reported toxicity. Of particular importance, studies show that Forsythia has an affinity to bind with the SARS-COVID-2 spike protein, suggesting its potential as an anti-viral remedy.

The story of how the shrub was introduced to Europe and North America is a puzzle, in itself. Initially, it was misclassified into the lily family (Liliaceae), given a separate genus (Syringia) and finally, in China, named liánqiáo.

If one breaks this puzzle into the various Forsythia species – several interesting stories unfold.

William Forsyth – Image: See page for author, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

To begin, the first species of this shrub was described in 1775 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, a pupil of Carolus Linnaeus. During this period, he collected specimens while residing in Dejima, a Japanese island in Nagasaki Bay. (As an aside, during Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate, the Dutch were the preferred foreigners – however, they were not allowed to enter the island except under exceptional circumstances). Thurnberg, being Swedish, learned Dutch while collecting plant specimens in South Africa. Coupled with his training as a surgeon, he was allowed to visit Edo (today named Tokyo), where he collected nearly 1,000 plant specimens. One of these producing profuse yellow flowers he named Syringa suspensa and classified it into the lilac (Liliaceae) family.

In 1804, however, Martin Vahl, a Danish botanist, recognized that Thurnberg’s specimen was misclassified and belonged to the olive family (Oleaceae). In addition, its characteristics warrant a new genus – Forsythia, in honour of William Forsyth, Director of King George III’s Royal Gardens of Kensington. Forsyth is also credited with creating the first rock garden in England, with stones taken from the Tower of London and lava brought from Iceland by explorer and naturalist Sir Joseph Bank.

‘The species Forsythia viridissima was first discovered in 1844 by Robert Fortune during a trip to China sponsored by the Horticultural Society of London.’

The species Forsythia viridissima was first discovered in 1844 by Robert Fortune during a trip to China sponsored by the Horticultural Society of London. In his notes, he describes the shrub growing in a Chinese Mandarin’s garden on the island of Chusan as well as other gardens of wealthy residents in the north of China. In addition, it was also found growing in its natural habitat in the mountainous interior of Chekiang.

Gottingen Botanic Gardens – Image: Valérie Chansigaud, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, however, Forsythias are descendants from Hermann Zabel’s 1876 cultivar named Forsythia x intermedia (The “x” nomenclature denotes a hybrid of two species – the name of a hybrid species is a registered cultivar, similar to a trade-mark and not a botanical species) initially grown in Germany at the Gottingen Botanic Gardens. During the 1900s, this hybrid produced several cultivars that grace gardens and parks worldwide.

Next time you stop to admire a Forsythia bush, think of Carl Thurnberg, the Swedish botanist who pretended to have Dutch nationality in order to reside in Japan, without whom these beautiful hybrid bushes would remain unknown.

Feature image: Michael Walsh

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