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Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.

Modern name

Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.

Synonyms

Kadsura chinensis Turcz.; S. japonica (Sieb. & Zucc. ex A. Gr.) Hance; Sphaerostema japonicum Sieb. & Zucc. ex A. Gr.; Maximowiczia chinensis (Turcz.) Rupr.

A deciduous, climbing shrub, growing 20 to 30 ft high; branchlets red, round, not downy, set with wart-like lenticels. Leaves 2 to 4 in. long, obovate or elliptical, tapering at the base to a slender stalk, remotely toothed; glabrous except on the principal veins beneath when young. Flowers produced during April and May, each on a slender stalk 1 in. long, two or three of them being borne in a cluster at the base of the young growths; they are pale rose-coloured, fragrant, 12 to 34 in. across. After the female flowers are past, that portion bearing the carpels continues to lengthen until it is 2 to 6 in. long, and on it the berry-like, scarlet fruits are borne on a sort of pendulous spike. These remain on the plant during the winter. Male flowers with four or five stamens.

Native of China, Japan, Korea, Sakhalin and the Amur region; introduced in 1860. Although not showy in flower (the petals soon drop), its scarlet fruits are very handsome. The dried wood is charmingly fragrant.


Genus

Schisandra

Other species in the genus