Aralia elata
| Aralia elata | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Height: | 20' |
| Width: | 20' |
| Speed: | Moderate |
| Blooms: | Late Summer-Early Fall |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Aralia elata (common name: japanese angelica tree)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 - 5 months of cold stratification. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 4 months at 20°c[1]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Once the plants are 25cm or more tall, they can be planted out into their permanent positions, late spring or early summer being the best time to do this.
Root cuttings 8cm long, December in a cold frame[2][3]. Store the roots upside down in sand and pot up in March/April. High percentage[3].
Division of suckers in late winter[2]. Very easy, the suckers can be planted out direct into their permanent positions if required.
Cultivation: Prefers a good deep loam and a position in semi-shade but it also succeeds in a sunny position[2][4]. Requires a sheltered position. Plants are hardier when grown on poorer soils[2][4]. Prefers an acid soil[5].
Dormant plants are hardy to at least -15°c[5][4]. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun[K].
A very ornamental species, there are a number of named varieties. It is usually a single stemmed shrub, spreading by means of suckers[6].
This species is closely allied to A. chinensis.
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat: Thin woodland and thickets on rich well moistened slopes[7][8], 900 - 2000 metres in N. Hupeh[8].
Edibility: Young shoots - cooked[9][4]. They can also be blanched and used in salads.
Medicinal: The roots and stems are anodyne and carminative[10]. All parts of the plant are used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthralgia, coughs, diabetes, jaundice, stomach ulcers and stomach cancers[10][11].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Dimorphanthus elatus.
Links
References
- ↑ Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Shrubs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray, 1992.
- ↑ Komarov, Vladimir. Flora of the USSR. Gantner Verlag, 1968.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wilson, Ernest and Charles Sargent. Plantae Wilsonianae.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Revolutionary Health Committee of Hunan Province. A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press.
- ↑ Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.