Species of medium sized tree native to eastern Asia. It has red globular fruit and an inner bark that yields a fiber used in Japan and China for papermaking and in Polynesia for the manufacture of a coarse fabric called tapa cloth. It is a tough, fast-growing tree that tolerates city conditions; it is available in several varieties (cut-leaved, white-fruited, and variegated) used hardy ornamentals and in naturalized landscapes.
