Euscaphis japonica Seeds | Euscaphis
LATIN NAME: Euscaphis japonica
COMMON NAME: Euscaphis
Plant Profile
Euscaphis japonica is a small deciduous tree or large shrub of warm hillsides, grown for what happens in autumn rather than for its flowers. The leaves are pinnate with five to nine leaflets, glossy and opposite, and they turn a dull purple-red before they fall. The fruit is a fleshy red capsule that splits along one side to reveal a single glossy black seed, and a well-fruited branch looks as though it has been decorated.
The bark is grey-brown and smooth on young wood, becoming slightly furrowed with age, and the twigs are stout with a prominent leaf scar. In China the plant is known as wild crow’s tree, a name that refers to the seed rather than to the bird, and it grows on the edges of broadleaf forest from the Yangtze southwards.
Science & Biotechnology
The red capsule is a fleshy aril-like structure that attracts birds, and the black seed inside is hard enough to pass through a gut intact. The colour comes from anthocyanins in the capsule wall, which fade as the fruit dries, so the display lasts about three weeks in good conditions.
The plant is a member of the Staphyleaceae, a small family placed close to the Crossosomataceae, and its wood anatomy has been studied as part of the effort to place the family within the rosids. Extracts of the bark and fruit contain triterpenes and flavonoids, and the root bark is the part used in Chinese pharmacy, though the pharmacology is early-stage and mostly in vitro.
Uses & Benefits
In Chinese practice the root bark and the fruit are used in decoctions for rheumatism and for stomach complaints, and the leaves are applied to boils. The seed oil has been examined as a possible industrial oil, and the timber is too small to be worth milling.
The plant is grown in gardens for the autumn fruit and for the shape of the crown, and it is used in Japan as a small street tree. It is not a crop, and there is no commercial supply of the fruit beyond the herb trade, which is supplied from wild collection.
Growing from Seed
The seed has a hard coat and an immature embryo, so it needs a warm period followed by cold. Sow in autumn in a pot left outdoors, or give three months at 20 degrees followed by three months at 4 degrees in a refrigerator. Germination is often in the second spring, and the seedlings are slow for the first year.
Plant in light shade or in sun with moisture at the roots, since the species comes from forest edges and resents both drought and waterlogging. It is hardy to about minus fifteen once established, and it needs little pruning beyond removing dead wood. Fruit is carried on short spurs, so heavy cutting removes the next year’s display.
Our Take
A quiet tree for most of the year and a good one in October, when the red capsules open. Worth it where the soil stays cool.
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