Actaea asiatica (Asian baneberry, "Ruiyoshoma")

Japanese name: ルイヨウショウマ （類葉升麻）
Scientific name: Actaea asiatica

[Overview]
A perennial 30–100 cm tall, growing in slightly moist places such as beech forests in the mountains.
It has short underground stems.
The stem is erect and hardly branches.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves; the basal leaves are scale-like and attached at the base of the stem.
2–3 stem leaves are produced, alternate, 2–4 times ternately compound.
The leaflets are ovate, 2–10 cm long and 1.5–9 cm wide, with coarse teeth on the margins.
A raceme 3–10 cm long at the stem tip bears small white flowers.
The flowers have petal-like sepals and petals, but these fall as soon as the flower opens, so the stamens stand out.
The fruiting raceme is about 4–15 cm long, and the fruit stalks turn red and thicken to about 1 mm across.
The fruit is a spherical berry about 6 mm across and ripens black.

[Uses]
The root is used medicinally.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers well-drained soil.
A place that is sunny in spring and in partial shade in summer is suitable, so when planted in the ground it is best placed under deciduous trees.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, watering is not particularly necessary unless sunny weather continues and the soil dries out.
In spring, apply oil cake fertilizer.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from the leaves resembling those of Sarashina-shoma.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)