Celastrus punctatus ("Terihatsurumemodoki")

Japanese name: テリハツルウメモドキ （照葉蔓梅擬）
Scientific name: Celastrus punctatus

[Overview]
A semi-evergreen woody vine found at woodland edges and roadsides.
The branches are ridged.
Leaves are simple and alternate, oblong to ovate-elliptic, 2.5–8 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, thinly leathery, hairless on both sides, glossy on the upper surface, with fine serrations on the margin.
The petiole is short, 0.3–0.7 cm long.
A single leaf lives 1–2 years.
Short cymes about 1 cm long emerge from the leaf axils.
It is dioecious.
Both male and female flowers are pale yellow-green with 5 petals; the petals of male flowers are narrowly oblong, 4–5 mm long, and those of female flowers are rectangular, 3.5 mm long.
The female plants bear fruit.
The fruit is a spherical capsule 7–8 mm across, ripening yellow to vermilion and splitting open.
When the fruit splits, the seeds, wrapped in a red-orange aril, show from inside.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, cuttings, layering, or root cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, well-ventilated place.
In poor sunlight, fruiting is poor.
It is not particular about soil.
It is hardy and easy to grow.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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