BERBERIDACE^-BARBERRY FAMILY 



AKEBIA 



Ahhbia quind-ta. 



Akebia is the Japanese name. 



An ornamental climbing shrub, free from attacks of insects and espe- 

 cially adapted for places in which a dense screen is not wanted. China, 

 Japan. April, May. 



Stem. — Climbing, twelve to fifteen feet long. 



Leaves. — Long-petioled, palmately five-fingered; leaflets oval or 

 oblong-ovate, one to two inches long. 



Flowers. — Fragrant, dioecious; the 

 pistillate purplish-brown, about an 

 inch across; the staminate smaller, 

 rosy-purple. 

 Sepals. — Three; stamens five. 

 Fruit. — An oblong berry, three 

 inches long, purple with glaucous 

 bloom. 



Akebia makes a good permanent 

 covering for porch pillars, clinging 

 to a surface almost as closely as 

 ampelopsis. Its vigorous growth 

 begins early in the spring and its 

 five-fingered leaves are of a type 



Akebia. Akebia quinlua nOt COmmon With US. 



The inconspicuous flowers ap- 

 pear in April and become more abundant as the vine gets older; 

 of the two kinds the pistillate are considerably the larger. 



Akebia fruits but rarely in this country. The fruit technically 

 is a berry; it is large, four to six inches long, somewhat suggest- 



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