Stauntonia latifolia seed

LATIN NAME: Stauntonia latifolia

COMMON NAME: Broadleaf Stauntonia

The broadleaf stauntonia is a handsome, twining, evergreen climbing shrub of the warm woodlands, and its fine, oval or lance-shaped, glossy leaves and its small, greenish-white, fragrant, bell-shaped flowers, followed by the small, oval, purple or reddish, fleshy, edible fruits, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the warm garden. It grows as a twining, evergreen climbing shrub, reaching up to several metres or more, with the slender, twining, climbing stems bearing the alternate, long-stalked, oval or lance-shaped, pointed, glossy leaves and, through the spring, the small, greenish-white, fragrant, bell-shaped flowers in the small clusters, followed by the small, oval, purple or reddish, fleshy, sweet, many-seeded fruits. It is a species of the flowering climbing plant in the lardizabala family, and it is native to the warm woodlands of the eastern Asia, while it grows in the shaded, moist places, and it is known as the broadleaf stauntonia.

In the lardizabala family it is the glossy, purple-fruited climber of the warm woodlands, a vine that gives the trellis both scent and sweetness.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The broadleaf stauntonia holds a steady place in the food-science papers of the warm woodlands, where the small, purple or reddish, fleshy fruits are studied as a fine, sweet, refreshing fruit of the region. The natural-product chemists have looked at the parts of the vine for the constituents behind the traditional use, and the botanists have mapped its place in the lardizabala family and the eastern flora. The horticulturists have grown the glossy, evergreen, fragrant climber for the warm garden and the trellis, and the growers of the warm-region vines keep it in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm garden, the broadleaf stauntonia is the fragrant climber of the shaded trellis. Its greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers feed the bees, its purple, fleshy fruits feed the birds and the garden, and the glossy, twining, evergreen growth gives cover and shelter along the wall. The fruits are enjoyed as a fine, sweet fruit of the region, and the vine asks for the warm, moist, well-drained ground of the sheltered spot. Glossy, purple-fruited and fragrant.

Soak the seeds in lukewarm water for a short while, then sow them at a shallow depth in pots of rich, open, free-draining compost, keep the pots warm and evenly moist in a bright, sheltered spot, and the first shoots will appear in their own good time.