Zelkova serrata(Thunb.) Makino

Japanese ZelkovaJapanese zelkovaJapanese-elmkeyakisaw-leaf zelkovawater-elm

WFO wfo-0001143208 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Zelkova serrata, photographed by 葉子
fig. a 葉子, CC0 1.0 / 2022-02-11 / obs. 179903882
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. b Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 173289645
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. c Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 171156101
Zelkova serrata, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 140565467
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. e Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 131873415
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Yoshihiro Tokue
fig. f Yoshihiro Tokue, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 125735840
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Yoshihiro Tokue
fig. g Yoshihiro Tokue, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 125736693
Zelkova serrata, photographed by Daniel Atha
fig. h Daniel Atha, CC0 1.0 / obs. 124945647

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 8 botanical countries

Regions where Zelkova serrata is native: China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Japan, Korea, Kuril Is., Manchuria, Taiwan China North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastJapanManchuriaTaiwan Korea
Native distribution of Zelkova serrata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Kuril Is. KUR
Manchuria CHM
Taiwan TAI

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 21 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Abelicea acuminata Kuntze
  • Abelicea hirta Schneider
  • Abelicea keaki (K.Koch) C.K.Schneid.
  • Abelicea serrata Makino
  • Corchorus serratus Thunb.
  • Planera acuminata Lindl.
  • Planera japonica Miq.
  • Planera kaki hort. ex Planch.
  • Planera keaki K.Koch
  • Ulmus keaki Siebold
  • Ulmus keia-ki Planch.
  • Zelkova acuminata (Lindl.) Planch.
  • Zelkova formosana Hayata
  • Zelkova hirta (C.K.Schneid.) C.K.Schneid.
  • Zelkova japonica Dippel
  • Zelkova keaki Maxim.
  • Zelkova serrata var. longifolia Nakai
  • Zelkova serrata var. stipulacea (Franch. & Sav.) Makino
  • Zelkova serrata var. tarokoensis (Hayata) H.L.Li
  • Zelkova stipulacea Franch. & Sav.
  • Zelkova tarokoensis Hayata

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.