Japanese name: オニシバリ（鬼縛） Scientific name:Daphne pseudomezereum
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 1–1.5 m tall, growing in woods in hills to mountains.
The leaves are alternate and crowded at the branch tips.
They are obovate-oblong, 5–13 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, pointed at both ends, with entire margins.
There are 7–9 pairs of lateral veins, which branch irregularly.
The leaves fall in July–August, and new leaves appear in August–September.
It is said to be dioecious.
The flowers grow in bundle-like clusters of 2–10.
The flowers have no petals; the calyx is pale yellowish green and 4-lobed, and the lobes are 2.5–5.5 mm long, about half the length of the calyx tube (5–9 mm).
The female flowers are slightly smaller.
The fruit is an oval berry about 8 mm long that ripens red; it is pungent and poisonous.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
A well-drained, water-retentive place with partial shade from spring to autumn and sun in winter is suitable.
It is not suited to cultivation in cold regions.
[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the bark being so strong that it could bind even an oni (demon).
The alternative name Natsu-bozu comes from the fact that it loses its leaves in summer.
