Japanese name: ガラナ Scientific name:Paullinia cupana
[Overview]
An evergreen woody vine that is sometimes somewhat shrubby.
The branches have 4–5 ridges.
The leaves are alternate and compound, consisting of 5 leaflets, 20–40 cm long.
The leaflets are 10–20 cm long and 4–9 cm wide; the upper ones are oblong, the lower ones ovate, and the margins are toothed.
The leaves have long leaf stalks and stipules.
Spike-like inflorescences 6–20 cm long emerge from the leaf axils and bear many flowers.
The flowers are white with 4 petals; the petals are about 6 mm long.
There are 5 sepals, which are separate.
The fruit is a spindle-shaped capsule 3–4 cm long, with a rather thick pericarp.
When the fruit ripens to red, it splits open and releases spherical black seeds 12 mm in diameter.
Because the seed coat is white, the fruit with its seed showing looks like an eyeball.
[Uses]
The seeds contain about three times as much caffeine as coffee and are used as a tonic and medicinally for various symptoms.
Products made from it arrived in Japan in the Taisho era.
