Korean cornel dogwood

It is a large, strongly-growing deciduous shrub with rough flaky bark. Umbels of acid yellow flowers appear in early spring before the oval leaves. The red berries, which are edible, appear later in the summer, and the leaves turn shades of red before falling in the autumn.

The plant is valued in cultivation for providing year-round interest in the garden. It is, however, quite a substantial shrub, typically growing to 8 m (26 ft) tall and broad. The cultivar 'Kintoki', with larger and more abundant flowers, has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

In Korean it is known as sansuyu (산수유), in Chinese as shānzhūyú (山茱萸) and in Japanese as sanshuyu (さんしゅゆ). The Latin specific epithet officinalis refers to plants which have some medicinal or culinary use - in this case the edible berries.