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Broussonetia kazinoki

Common name:	Kozo	Family:	Moraceae
Author:	Siebold.	Botanical references:	11, 58, 200
Synonyms:	Broussonetia sieboldii (Blume.), Broussonetia monoica, Broussonetia kaempferi (non Siebold.&Zucc.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - C. and S. Japan, Korea.
Habitat:	Forest margins, low mountains and near houses[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	B. kajinoki[H]
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Urticales. Mulberry family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 4.5m. It is hardy to zone 7 and is frost tender. It is in flower in August, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Flowers; Fruit; Leaves.

Fruit - raw[105, 177]. A sweet taste[4]. The fruit comprises a ball about 1cm in diameter with small edible fruits protruding - there is not much edible flesh but it has a lovely flavour[K]. Prolonged ingestion of the fruit is said to weaken the bones[179].
Leaves - cooked and used as a vegetable[105, 177, 183].
Flowers[105, 177, 183]. No more details.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Tonic.

The fruit is used as a tonic to increase vision and sexual potency[218].

Other Uses

Fibre.

A fibre from the bark is used in making paper, cloth, rope etc[46, 61]. It is inferior to B. papyrifera[4].

Cultivation details

Easily cultivated in a warm sunny position in any soil of reasonable quality[1, 11], thriving on poor sandy or gravelly soils[200]. Tolerates atmospheric pollution[200].
The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun[K].
Often cultivated in Japan for the fibre in its bark, the tree is coppiced annually for this purpose[4, 58].
Some plants are monoecious whilst others are dioecious. Male and female plants must usually be grown if seed is required[200].

Propagation

Seed - no pre-treatment is required. Sown in the autumn or spring in a greenhouse, germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 months at 15°c[138]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 8 - 12cm long with a heel, July/August in a frame. High percentage[11, 78].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, November in a frame[200].
Root cuttings in winter[200].
Layering in spring[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Broussonetia kaempferi (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Broussonetia kajinoki (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for the family Moraceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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