Kadsura japonica (kadsura vine, "Sanekazura")

Japanese name: サネカズラ （実葛、真葛）
Scientific name: Kadsura japonica

[Overview]
An evergreen woody climber found at the edges and in the interior of evergreen forests.
The stem is brown, and as it ages a cork layer develops and it can reach 2 cm in diameter.
Young branches are tinged with red.
The leaves are simple and alternate, long-ovate to elliptic, 5–13 cm long and 2.5–6 cm wide, soft and somewhat thick.
The upper surface of the leaf is glossy, and the underside is often tinged with purple.
The leaf margin is entire or toothed.
The petiole is 0.6–2.3 cm long.
It is usually dioecious.
Both male and female flowers hang singly from the leaf axils.
The flowers are deep cream-colored, broadly bell-shaped, 1.5 cm across, with 8–17 tepals.
There are many stamens in male flowers and many pistils in female flowers.
The fruit is a spherical berry 5 mm across, gathered in spherical clusters 2–3 cm across, ripening red.

[Uses]
The bark of the stem contains mucilage, which was formerly used as a hair dressing and as paste for papermaking.
The fruit is used medicinally as a substitute for Chosen-gomishi (Schisandra chinensis).

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings or layering.
Growing from seed is also possible, but plants raised from seed will turn out to be both male and female.
It can be grown outdoors in southern Tohoku and to the south.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile, well-drained soil.
When planted in the ground in a suitable place, it grows easily and well without fertilizer.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
For potted plants, apply slow-release fertilizer in spring and autumn, but a fertilizer high in nitrogen produces only leaves and poor flowering.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The alternative Japanese name derives from its use as a hair dressing.

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