Eurya emarginata var. emarginata ("Hamahisakaki")

Japanese name: ハマヒサカキ
Scientific name: Eurya emarginata var. emarginata

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub or small tree found on rocky ground near the coast.
It branches well, and the twigs usually have soft hairs.
Leaves are simple and alternate in two rows, obovate, 2–4 cm long and 1–1.8 cm wide, thick and leathery.
The upper surface of the leaf is glossy and hairless.
The leaf margins roll toward the underside and have low, blunt serrations.
The petiole is very short.
The plant is dioecious.
Flowers grow in bundles of 1–4 in the leaf axils and face downward, so many flowers appear lined up along the underside of the branch.
The flowers are white, 5-petaled, bell-shaped, and 0.4 cm across.
The flowers have a distinctive fragrance.
The calyx is rounded.
Male flowers have 10–15 stamens and a rudimentary pistil, and female flowers have 1 pistil.
The fruit is a spherical berry about 0.5 cm in diameter, ripening blackish purple.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
For seed, collect ripe fruit, wash off the pulp, and sow immediately, or put the seeds in moist sand so they do not dry out, seal them, store in a cool, dark place, and sow in the following spring.
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil.
It also tolerates shade.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long sunny spell and the soil dries out.
For fertilizer in winter, apply organic fertilizer around the plant.
Scale insects can occur.

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