Gamblea innovans ("Takanotsume")

Japanese name: タカノツメ （鷹爪）
Scientific name: Gamblea innovans

[Overview]
A small deciduous tree 5–10 m tall, growing in mountain forests and often found on dry ridges.
The bark is smooth and tinged with grayish white.
The branches are soft and break easily.
The leaves are alternate on long shoots and clustered on short shoots; they are trifoliate compound leaves, though simple leaves or leaves with 2 leaflets sometimes appear.
The leaflets are oblong to elliptic, 5–15 cm long and 2–6 cm wide, with a tip that suddenly becomes sharply pointed.
The base of the side leaflets is somewhat asymmetrical.
The upper surface of the leaves is hairless and glossy, and there are hairs in the vein axils on the underside.
The leaf margin has very small teeth with hair-like pointed tips, and in young trees it may be cut into tooth-like notches.
The leaves turn yellow in autumn.
The leaf stalk is 2–12 cm long.
The plant is dioecious.
An inflorescence of globular umbels arranged in a raceme bears many flowers.
The flowers are small, pale green, and have 5 petals; the petals are about 2 mm long.
The fruit is a berry, spherical to elliptic and about 5 mm in diameter, ripening black.

[Uses]
The young shoots are fragrant and can be eaten as a wild vegetable.
The wood is soft and is used as fuel, and also for chopsticks, thin wood strips, and matchsticks.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile, well-drained soil.
It grows well even if left alone, provided the environment suits it.
For established plants, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the winter buds to a hawk's claws.
The alternative name comes from the tree being soft like a potato.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)