Ardisia crispa

Ardisia crispa, the Japanese holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is found in the eastern Himalayas, Assam, southern China, Indochina, Taiwan, Korea, the Ryukyu Islands, and Japan, and has been introduced to Queensland, Australia, and the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. An evergreen perennial shrub reaching at most 1.5 m (5 ft), it is often sold as an ornamental for its dark green leaves and long‑lasting red berries, much like Ardisia crenata, the Christmas berry or coralberry.

Description

An erect shrub. It has leaves arranged in a spiral. It grows 60-150 cm high. It has creeping rhizomes or underground stems. The stems have small hairs. The leaf stalk is 5-8 mm long. The leaves are narrow and slightly toothed. They are 7-25 cm long by 1-5.8 cm wide. There are 8 side veins each side of the midrib. The flowers are pink and waxy. The petals overlap. The flowers occur in drooping heads with the oldest at the outside. These are in the axils of leaves on special curved side branches and near the top of the plant. The fruit are bright red berries. They are 5-6 mm across. They are one seeded.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves Edible Uses: Leaves - raw. Used in salads.

Traditional Uses

The bright red berries are eaten. The leaves are eaten in salads.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

Antidote Diuretic Pectoral The root is antidotal and diuretic. An infusion is pectoral. The plant is crushed and applied to scurf, it is also applied to the ears in the treatment of earache.

Distribution

It is a temperate and subtropical plant. It needs to be in frost free places. In China it grows in mixed and broad leafed forests and damp places between 100-2500 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 7-11.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, China, Fiji, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Northeastern India, Pacific, SE Asia, Sikkim, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam,

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed or cuttings.

Propagation

Seed - best harvested when it is ripe in the winter and sown immediately in a greenhouse. Sow stored seed as early in the year as possible. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a shady part of the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, once the plants are 20cm or more tall. Cuttings of half-ripe wood in summer. Grow on in cool, shaded humid conditions until well rooted.

Other Uses

None known Special Uses

Notes

There are about 250-300 Ardisia species. They are mainly in the tropics. The roots are used in medicine. Also put in the family Myrsinaceae.

Synonyms

Also Known As

A hundred ounces of gold, Bai liang jin, Cham, Chausa, Comnguoi nhan, Jum-kong, Lempeni mata pelanduk, Mata ayam

References (24)

• Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 50
• Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 39
• Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 97
• Brickell, C. (Ed.), 1999, The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. Convent Garden Books. p 133
• Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 219

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