Lindera umbellata var. umbellata ("Kuromoji")

Japanese name: クロモジ （黒文字）
Scientific name: Lindera umbellata var. umbellata

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 3–7 m tall, found in the mountains.
In old plants the trunks grow in clusters.
Young branches are yellowish green and covered with silky hairs.
The branches have black lenticels.
Leaves are simple and alternate, obovate-oblong, 5–10 cm long and 1.5–3.5 cm wide, with a pointed tip.
The undersides of the leaves are at first covered with silky hairs but later become hairless.
The leaf margins are entire.
The petiole is 1–1.5 cm long.
The leaves turn yellow in autumn.
The plant is dioecious.
In the mountains the flowers bloom before the leaves unfold, and in the lowlands they bloom at the same time as the leaves emerge.
Umbels arise from the axils of the bud scales of the winter buds.
The flowers are small and yellowish green, and the corolla is 6-lobed.
The fruit is spherical, 5–6 mm in diameter, and ripens to black.

[Uses]
The branches have a pleasant fragrance and are made into toothpicks, and "kuromoji" has also become another name for a toothpick.
The essential oil obtained from the branches and leaves is called kuromoji oil and is used as a perfume ingredient and a bath additive.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings or from seed.
Plants grown from seed will turn out to be both male and female.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, moisture-retentive, fertile soil.
Avoid places where sunlight strikes the base of the plant or where strong afternoon sun hits, as the soil dries out easily.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
For plants in the ground, once established, watering is unnecessary unless sunny weather continues in midsummer and the soil becomes extremely dry.
For fertilizer in winter, dig a hole around the plant and bury compost.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name likens the black lenticels on the branches to written characters.

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