Amami Broadleaf Forest

Three broadleaf tree species shape the forest character of Amami-Oshima and the southern Ryukyu islands. The needlewood tree dominates secondary forests with clusters of white flowers blooming from May through July, their fragrance drawing insects and inspiring the painter Tanaka Isson, whose works are at the memorial museum near Amami Airport. The southern Japanese laurel grows to two to three meters with green-trunked branches and bright red berries following small purple-red flowers in spring. The sweet leaf shrub, at its northern limit on Amami-Oshima, produces clusters of tiny white flowers with protruding stamens that resemble light snowfall against the glossy oval leaves.