[2] The opposite leaves turn yellowish or occasionally purplish in the autumn before falling.

[3] The bright yellow flowers are produced on one- to two-year-old growth and may be solitary or in racemes from 2 to 6.

[4] A plant of seedling origin was discovered growing in the Göttingen Botanical Garden in Germany by the director of the Royal Prussian Academy of Forestry in Münden, H. Zabel in 1878.

[4] The hybrid is best suited to a position in full sun or partial shade and is drought-tolerant.

Cultivars include (those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit):[6] The first dirigent protein was discovered in Forsythia intermedia.