Hovenia acerba seed

LATIN NAME: Hovenia acerba

COMMON NAME: Japanese Raisin Tree

The Japanese raisin tree is the sweet branch of the warm hill, and the swollen, fleshy stalks of the fruit clusters taste like the raisins. The spreading, deciduous tree carries the broad, heart-shaped leaves and the small, greenish-white flowers in the loose clusters through the early summer, to be followed by the small, round, brown fruits on the swollen, fleshy, sweet stalks that taste like the raisins of the old trade. The tree is a fine, curious presence of the warm garden and the study collection. It is a tree of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Japanese raisin tree is a curious subject of the plant science, and the sweet stalks keep showing up in the work on the fruit-stalk plants. The way the stalks swell and sweeten around the small fruits has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the unusual fruit plants, the honey trees and the members of the buckthorn family. The broad, heart-shaped leaves and the spreading habit have also made it a fine study tree, and the Japanese raisin tree is a regular subject of the work on the sweet-stalked trees of the warm world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The Japanese raisin tree is a fine, curious tree of the warm garden and the study collection. The swollen, fleshy stalks of the fruit clusters sweeten into the fine, raisin-like treats of the warm table, and the tree has a long record in the old practice of the East as the hangover herb and the liver tonic of the wayside. The broad, heart-shaped leaves give the fine, broad shade of the courtyard, and the tree is one of the fine choices for the warm garden, the study collection and the honey tree. It has been written about in the botanical and the culinary papers for the sweet stalks and the curious ways, and it is a fine, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.

Choose a spot with the room for the spreading crown, for the tree grows into a fine, broad shape with the years.

To grow the Japanese raisin tree from seed, sow the small, brown seeds a centimetre down in trays of loose, free-draining soil, keep the trays in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out after the last frosts. The seedlings thread up within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the warmth and the deep, well-drained ground, the sweet stalks will come in their own good time.