Japanese name: アラゲナツハゼ Scientific name:Vaccinium ciliatum
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub about 2 m tall, found at forest edges in lowlands, with coarse hairs over most of the plant.
Coarse hairs grow densely on the young branches.
Leaves are simple and alternate, broadly elliptic, 4–9 cm long and 2.5–6 cm wide, without teeth, with dense coarse hairs over the entire underside.
The leaf stalk is 1–2 mm long and densely covered with coarse hairs.
Racemes 4–7 cm long emerge at the tips of young branches, bearing many drooping flowers.
The flowers are white and bell-shaped with 5 shallow lobes.
There are 10 stamens.
The flower stalk is 1–4 mm long, and, like the calyx tube, is densely covered with coarse hairs.
The fruit is a round berry 7 mm across that ripens to indigo blue with a whitish bloom.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
Cuttings are also possible, although the rooting rate is poor.
Plant it in a well-drained, moisture-retentive place in sun to partial shade, out of the afternoon sun.
It prefers acidic soil.
