Duranta erecta (golden dewdrop)

Japanese name: デュランタ（タイワンレンギョウ）
Scientific name: Duranta erecta

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub to small tree about 2–6 m tall.
The branches have 4 ridges and branch freely, and the tips sometimes droop.
The branches often bear thorns and may be densely covered with soft hairs.
The leaves are simple, opposite or whorled, elliptic, and about 10 cm long.
The leaf margin is entire, or has coarse teeth in the upper half.
It flowers all year round as long as the temperature allows.
Pendent, conical racemes at the branch tips or in the leaf axils bear many flowers.
The flowers are funnel-shaped, 1.2–1.5 cm across, wisteria-purple to pale bluish purple, with a 5-lobed tip and a curved tube.
The fruit is a spherical drupe 0.7 mm across, ripening yellow and remaining on the branch for a long time.

[History]
It was introduced in 1733 and arrived in the mid-Meiji period.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It can overwinter outdoors in the ground if not exposed to frost.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, fertile soil.
In poor sunlight it flowers poorly.
It is hardy, grows fast, and tolerates poor soil.
For potted plants, from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and keep on the dry side in winter.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply slow-release fertilizer from spring to autumn, but too much nitrogen produces only leaves and poor flowering.
Pests include aphids and spider mites.

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