Viburnum wrightii var. wrightii ("Miyamagamazumi")

Japanese name: ミヤマガマズミ （深山莢蒾）
Scientific name: Viburnum wrightii var. wrightii

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub about 4 m tall, growing in bright forests and at forest edges in the mountains.
Young branches are green, often tinged with purplish brown, and are hairless or sparsely covered with soft hairs.
The leaves are simple and opposite, obovate, 5–14 cm long and 2.5–9 cm wide.
The upper surface is glossy and hairless or sparsely hairy on the veins, with silky hairs between the lateral veins.
On the underside, long appressed hairs grow along the veins and star-shaped hairs in the vein axils; together with fine glandular dots, there are 1–4 pairs of glands near the margin in the lower part.
There are 6–9 pairs of lateral veins, running almost straight.
The leaf margins have triangular teeth.
The petiole is 1–2 cm long, and there are no stipules.
Flat corymbs 6–10 cm across are produced at the branch tips, with a pair of leaves at the base of the inflorescence.
The flowers are white, 0.5–0.7 cm across; the corolla is 5-lobed and the 5 stamens project far out.
The fruit is 0.5–0.7 cm long and ripens red.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
When growing from seed, collect ripe fruits, wash off the pulp thoroughly, and then sow.
It grows well regardless of soil type in a sunny to partially shaded, 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.
Apply fertilizer in winter, and also after flowering as a thank-you fertilizer, using a slow-release chemical fertilizer with equal amounts of its three components.
Do not prune and enjoy the natural shape; if you want to keep it compact, cut just above a bud as soon as possible after flowering.
Poor air circulation makes powdery mildew and scale insects likely to occur, so take care.

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