Stachyurus praecox var. matsuzakii ("Nanbankibushi")

Japanese name: ナンバンキブシ （南蛮木五倍子、南蛮木付子）
Scientific name: Stachyurus praecox var. matsuzakii

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 2–5 m tall, growing on seaside slopes and in mixed woodlands.
The bark is somewhat glossy.
It branches freely from the base in a clump form, and the branches are thick.
The leaves are simple and alternate, somewhat triangular ovate to long ovate, 10–15 cm long and 7–8 cm wide, thick and hard, with sharply pointed tips and serrated margins.
The leaves sometimes exceed 20 cm in length.
The petiole is 2.5–4 cm long.
It is dioecious or monoecious.
The flowers bloom before the leaves emerge.
Both male and female flowers are borne in large numbers on racemes hanging from the leaf axils of the previous year's branches, which can exceed 20 cm in length.
The inflorescences of bisexual and female flowers are shorter than those of male flowers.
The flowers are pale yellow, bell-shaped, 0.8–1 cm long, and 4-petaled.
Each flower has 4 petal-like sepals and 4 purplish brown bracts.
The fruit is elliptic, 1–1.5 cm long, and turns yellowish brown when ripe.

[Uses]
The young branches, leaves, and fruit are used medicinally.
The fruit was used as a dye, as a substitute for gobaishi (plant gall used in dyeing).

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
Propagation from seed is also possible, but since both sexes appear, it is usually propagated by cuttings from male plants, which have longer, more attractive inflorescences.
It grows well in any soil type as long as the site is sunny and well drained.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless a spell of sunny weather brings severe dryness.

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