What is "stachyurus"

Stachyurus is the only genus in the flowering plant family Stachyuraceae, native to the Himalayas and eastern Asia. They are deciduous shrubs or small trees with pendent racemes of 4-petalled flowers which appear on the bare branches before the leaves. The plants have leaves with serrate margins. Stachyuraceae contains a single genus with eight species.

Pendunculagin, casuarictin, strictinin, casuarinin and casuariin are ellagitannins found in the species within the genus.

Stachyurus praecox, from Japan, is a spreading shrub growing to tall by wide. Pendent, bell-shaped, primrose yellow flowers are borne in winter and spring. The Latin specific epithet praecox means "early", referring to the exceptionally early flowering season. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

S. chinensis, from China, is also found in cultivation.