Japanese name: コショウノキ（胡椒木） Scientific name:Daphne kiusiana
[Overview]
An evergreen shrub about 1 m tall, found in woodland.
The branches are slender, somewhat branched, tinged purplish brown, and hairless.
The leaves are simple and alternate, oblong to oblanceolate, 4–16 cm long and 1.5–4 cm wide, thick and fleshy, with entire margins.
The upper surface of the leaves is dark green and glossy.
The leaves tend to cluster at the branch tips.
It is dioecious.
About 10 flowers are borne in a head-like inflorescence at the branch tip.
The flowers have no petals and have a thick, white, 4-lobed calyx.
The flowers have a strong fragrance.
The fruit is a globular-oval berry about 1 cm long that ripens red; it is extremely pungent when chewed and is poisonous.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by grafting.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile soil that is well drained yet retains water.
Avoid afternoon sun.
The northern limit for planting in the ground is the southern Tohoku region.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless sunny weather continues and the soil becomes dry.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter.
Aphids can occur.
[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the fact that the fruit is extremely pungent.
