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Pentactina rupicola is a small deciduous broadleaf shrub (30-70cm high).

Its stem is thin and weak, and branches shoot out downward in the central part. A fresh branch is reddish brown and hairless.

Leaves are unifoliate, usually zigzagged, and have short stalks.

Bisexual flowers form a racemose inflorescence at the end of the fresh shoots.

One or two seeds are inside each follicle with no hair. With fruits ripening around August, they burst open spontaneously along the inner seam of the front and back sides.

Seeds (1mm long) are elliptical and have albumen.

The plant is widely distributed around Mt Kumgang in the DPRK, and the range of its vertical distribution is from 400 to 1 500m.

It is Korea’s indigenous one genus and one species plant of academic significance. It has beautiful and pretty flowers. Therefore it adds beauty to scenery when it is planted in parks, pleasure grounds and gardens.

The shrub is under the state protection as a living monument.