Styrax obassia

Styrax obassia is a species of flowering plant in the Styracaceae family. It is native to Hokkaido island of Japan and to China. The name of the plant is sometimes spelled Styrax obassis, but the original spelling is obassia. In the history of botany, different people have used all three grammatical genders for the genus Styrax, and reasonable arguments could be made for treating it as neuter, feminine, or masculine, although it has been recommended that masculine gender should be used. Choosing masculine gender could produce the obassis spelling, except that the specific epithet is not a Botanical Latin adjective to be declined in that way, but a vernacular name. Styrax obassis is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens.