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Stauntonia hexaphylla

Common name:		Family:	Lardizabalaceae
Author:	(Thunb.)Decne.	Botanical references:	11, 58, 200
Synonyms:	Rajania hexaphylla (Thunb.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - Burma, Japan, Korea.
Habitat:	Thickets and woodland in lowland from C. Japan southwards[58].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Mube [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aphylla = leafless hexaphylla = 6 leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ranunculales. Lardizabala family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen climber growing to 10m by 7m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower in April. The scented flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Insects and hand. 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 and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid and very alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, By Walls, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[2, 3, 58, 179]. Sweet and watery[11] with a honey-like flavour[46], it is highly esteemed as a dessert fruit in Japan[183]. The fruit is up to 5cm long[188].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antirheumatic Diuretic Ophthalmic.

The roots, stem and fruits are antirheumatic and diuretic[218]. The juice of the fruit is used in the treatment of ophthalmia[2].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a well-drained moisture retentive soil in a sheltered position[200]. Succeeds in acid or alkaline soils, in full sun or in semi-shade[200]. It grows best if its roots are in a shady position and the top is allowed to grow into the sun[K].
A very ornamental plant, it is only hardy outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[3, 11, 59], tolerating temperatures down to about -10° c when the plant is fully dormant[184]. The young growth in spring, however, can be damaged by late frosts. It is cultivated for its edible fruit in Japan.
The flowers have a pleasant sweet perfume[245].
A climbing plant that supports itself by twining around other plants and supports[219].
Plants are dioecious but females have borne fruit at times in the absence of a male pollinator[11, 200]. In Britain fruit is usually only formed in sunny summers[166, 219]. Hand pollination may improve fruit set[166]. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse. The seed can take 18 months to germinate. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer and consider giving them some protection from the cold for their first winter or two outdoors[K].
Cuttings.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a pleasant sweet perfume[245].

Suppliers

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

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[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 stauntonia hexaphylla (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Lardizabalaceae.

[CHINA] 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.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[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.

[59] Thurston. Trees and Shrubs in &ndndndnd.
Trees and shrubs that succeed in &ndndndnd based on the authors own observations. Good but rather dated.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[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.

[184] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Shrubs. Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30258-2
Excellent photographs and a terse description of 1900 species and cultivars.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[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.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

Stauntonia hexaphylla

Peter Barnes (pgbarnes@compuserve.com) Tue, 12 May 1998

I was very interested to come across your PFAF page, whilst seeking info on Stauntonia.

One point, though, Stauntonia is *monoecious*, not dioecious as stated. I have just spent part of a morning going through various Japanese botanical works to resolve this: many UK references like Bean's Trees and Shrubs are at best ambiguous on this point! Hillier's Manual is correct.

Hillier's Manual is really: The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs, sixth edition (1991), published by David and Charles. No author, though Roy Lancaster and Allen Coombes were primary contributors. It is a standard work, excellent for concise, useful notes on 8,000-odd hardy trees and shrubs.

Peter Barnes

Author, Horticultural & Botanical Consultant Recently revised and updated: comments always welcome.

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