Viburnum suspensum ("Gomoju")

Japanese name: ゴモジュ
Scientific name: Viburnum suspensum

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub 3–4 m tall.
It branches well.
Young branches are often tinged with red.
The leaves are simple and opposite, obovate to elliptic, 3–8 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, thick, with a slightly glossy upper surface.
There are 3–4 pairs of lateral veins, which curve in an arch.
The leaf margin is almost entire or has rounded teeth.
The petiole is 0.5–1.5 cm long and reddish; there are no stipules.
Crushed leaves smell of sesame.
A panicle 2–5 cm long is borne at the branch tips.
The flowers are white to very pale pink, 7–10 mm across, with a 5-lobed corolla.
The fruit is a red drupe 5–6 mm long, ripening later to black.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
For seed, collect ripe fruits, wash off the pulp thoroughly, and then sow.
It grows well regardless of soil type in a sunny, well-drained place rich in humus.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
Apart from fertilizer in winter, apply a slow-release chemical fertilizer with equal amounts of the three components after flowering as a thank-you fertilizer.
Do not prune, and enjoy the natural tree shape; if you want to keep it compact, cut just above a bud as early as possible after flowering.
Poor ventilation makes powdery mildew and scale insects likely to occur, so care is needed.

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