Habitat

• native to Japan
• zone 4

Habit and Form

• medium to large shrub
• deciduous
• long main branches, erect with age.
• comprised of numerous, unbranched basal suckers
• 8' to 10' tall by 8' to 10' wide
• medium texture

Summer Foliage

• alternate, palmately compound leaves with 5 to 7 leaflets, 1" to 2.5" long each by 1" wide; long petiole (up to 3")
• bright green color, high quality

Autumn Foliage

• leaves remain late into fall
• no fall color (remains green)

Flowers

• May
• small, greenish-white, in an umbel

Fruit

• black berry, 0.25" with 2 to 5 seeds
• few produced in cultivation

Bark

• stems light gray and warty
• small thorns beneath buds

Culture

• adaptable to many unfavorable conditions
• tolerates alkaline, heavy, sandy, dry or poor soils
• tolerates heavy shade, air pollution, and severe pruning
• can be a rampant grower on ideal sites
• benefits from occasional rejuvenation pruning

Landscape Uses

• ideal for urban sites and places where other plants fail
• effective as a barrier plant, screen, mass plantings
• good for dry shade

Liabilities

• thorns are small, but very sharp, a useful attribute for a barrier planting

ID Features

• palmately compound leaves
• long main branches erect with age
• thorns on young wood; may have spur wood on older branches
• broken stems smell like gin

Propagation

• softwood cuttings root easily
• seeds require warm:cold stratification

Cultivars/Varieties

'Variegatus'- A commonly available, popular form with leaflets edged or blotched with creamy-white. Generally less vigorous than the straight species (not usually exceeding 5' tall). Between individuals there is great variation in vigor and degree of variegation. A beautiful plant for a shady, protected shrub border. Tolerates drier soils. As shown below, it can also be treated as an espalier on a wall or similar structure.