Toxicodendron succedaneum (wax tree, "Hazenoki")

Japanese name: ハゼノキ （黄櫨木、櫨木）
Scientific name: Toxicodendron succedaneum

[Overview]
A deciduous tree 6–10 m tall, common on low mountains near the coast in warm regions.
It does not branch much.
Leaves are alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 20–40 cm long, clustered at the branch tips, and consist of 9–15 leaflets.
The leaflets are asymmetrically elliptic, 5–12 cm long and 1.8–4 cm wide, with entire margins.
The leaves turn red in autumn.
Dioecious; both male and female flowers are borne in large numbers on panicles 5–10 cm long arising from the leaf axils, and are small, yellowish green and 5-petaled.
The fruit is oblate, 9–13 mm across, and ripens to a glossy yellowish white, but the exocarp soon peels off, exposing the white, waxy mesocarp with vertical stripes.

[History]
It was widely cultivated as a source of mokuro (Japanese vegetable wax), and most of the plants in Japan are thought not to be native but to be cultivated plants that escaped and became wild.

[Uses]
The mokuro obtained from the fruit (drupe) is used as a raw material for Japanese candles, and as a base for suppositories and ointments.
The root bark is also used medicinally.
The wood is used for crafts and small woodwork.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It is easy to grow in any soil 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.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
Because it belongs to the Urushi family, some people get a rash from it depending on their constitution, so caution is necessary.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)