140 



THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN— III. 



southern and central Japan, and reaches as far north as 

 Yawagata prefecture, two hundred miles north of Tokio, 

 according to the statement of an official in the agricultural 

 department of that prefecture. How far north it can be 

 grown without protection in America can only be ascer- 

 tained by experiment ; possibly it may not be hardy north 

 of Mason and Dixon's line. In Tokio it is perfectly 

 hardy growing, luxuriantly and yielding much fruit. The 

 handsomest specimen I have seen is a vine in the botani- 

 cal gardens of the Tokio university. It trails over and 

 around an arbor in wild luxuriance, producing a dense 

 mass of foliage through which the rays of the sun cannot 

 pierce. It is an evergreen, the foliage remaining of the same 

 dark shining hue both summer and winter. The leaves 

 are alternate, palmate, with long petioles ; leaflets five or 

 six, the former number predominating ; oval in outline, 

 margin entire ; smooth, shining dark green above and a 

 little lighter below. The young foliage and bark of the 

 young shoots are of a light green color. It blooms in 

 May, forming loose clusters of moncEcious flowers, often 

 both staminate and pistillate flowers in the same cluster. 

 The flowers consist of a perianth of three sepals and three 

 petals, creamy colored on the outside, and shaded more 

 or less with pink on the inner side, thick and fleshy, val- 

 vate in the bud, both sets alike in all respects except that 

 the sepals are broader than the petals ; anthers six, 

 adnata, yellow, filaments united into one. (See illustra- 

 tration of a twig with leaves and a cluster of male flowers 

 in Fig. 2, page 139.) The pistillate flowers are larger 

 than the staminate ones ; pistils usually two or three, 

 rarely four. The illustration of a female flower (Fig. 3) 

 shows an instance of a flower having four parts m each 

 set — a somewhat rare occurrence, three being the rule. 

 The fruit (Fig. 3) is oblong, cylindrical, four inches long 

 and two inches in diameter, nearly covered with scarlet 

 in large patches and splashes. The rind is a white, fleshy 

 substance, not pleasant in taste, with a granular inner 

 coating ; but the pulp which it encloses is very pleasant. 

 It has a sweetish taste, is jelly-like in consistence and 

 greenish-yellow in color, containing numerous purplish, 

 oblong seeds as large as small navy beans. It does not 

 ripen in Tokio until the beginning of November, with the 

 advent of the first frost. It is readily propagated by 

 seeds. 



Akebia quinata, Decaisne (Rajania quinata, Thun- 

 berg). Japanese, Akebi. (Fig. 5, p. 145, and Fig.y, p. 151.) 



I have frequently seen this species about Tokio and 

 elsewhere in Japan, in thickets, along water courses and 

 on the lower slopes of the mountains. It is a slender 

 deciduous vine which climbs over bushes and up the 

 trunks of small trees by twining the stem about the sup- 

 port. As shown in the illustration, (Fig. 7, page 151), 

 which represents the end of a growing shoot, natural size. 

 The leaves are palmately five-foliate, leaflets oval or ovate, 

 blunt or even slightly notched at the apex, and with smooth 

 margins. The leaflets are not large, only a couple of 

 inches long at most and usually less. The foliage has a 

 charming effect when peeping out from among rougher 

 leaves, or silhouetted against the gray trunk of a tree. It 

 is not a tall climber, reaching to the height of fifteen to 



twenty feet, and spreading out considerably over bushes 

 and undergrowth. Old vines produce a handsome berry- 

 like fruit, dark purple in color or almost black when fully 

 ripe. 



In the latitude of Tokio it blooms in the latter part of 

 April, Fig. 5 shows a twig with a cluster of blooms con- 

 taining both staminate and pistillate flowers. The flowers 

 are purple in color and have a sweet, heavy odor. Like 

 the tauntonia, it is monoecious ; but the staminate and 

 pistillate flowers are often produced in the same cluster. 

 In shape they are alike, but the pistillate ones are larger 

 than the others ; petals three, boat-shaped ; pistils six to 

 nine ; anthers six. Usually only two or three pistils in a 

 flower develop into fruits, the rest falling off at an early 

 stage. The fruit is of variable size, but usually three to 

 four inches long and two inches in diameter. It ripens 

 in the latter part of October or beginning of November, 

 and when fully ripe it cracks open along the dorsal suture, 

 exposing the pulp and seeds to view. The pulp is a 

 homogeneous yellowish-green mass containing some forty 

 to fifty black oblong seeds. It has a pleasant, sweetish, 

 though somewhat insipid taste, resembling very much the 

 fruit of the stauntonia. 



In America, the akebia will probably be esteemed more 

 as an ornamental plant than for its fruit. It deserves a 

 place in every garden where the winters are not so severe 

 as to retard and stunt its growth. Being a rather slow 

 grower it cannot, however, be depended on to yield much 

 shade as an arbor plant except in favorable situations. It 

 will grow under the shade of trees, perhaps more satisfac- 

 torily than most other vines. 



The vine has an economic use which is of no small im- 

 portance in those parts of Japan where it grows in abund- 

 ance. It is used for wicker-work, and nothing can surpass 

 it for this purpose. The vines are slender, pliable, strong, 

 of an almost uniform thickness throughout, and in deft 

 fingers they lend themselves readily to very graceful 

 work. In the city of Yawagata, the capital of Yawagata 

 prefecture, I found it quite extensively employed for the 

 making of baskets, trays and other articles in infinite va- 

 riety, and even for sun hats. The plant was abundant in 

 the surrounding mountains, and was no small source of 

 income to the basket-makers of that place. The articles 

 made from it are stronger and more durable than willow- 

 ware. The vines are long and thin and do not have to 

 be split before they can be used. This class of wicker- 

 work brings a higher price in Tokio than willow-ware, 

 and doubtless the same would be the case here could it be 

 bought at all. It might be a paymg investment to start 

 a plantation for the purpose of producing choice material 

 for basket-makers. It would be superior to willow in 

 many points, especially for trimmings and fancy work. 

 The producer would probably find the next species {A. 

 lohata) more profitable on account of its being a much 

 more vigorous grower. 



Akebia lobata, Decaisne. {Rajania trifolia, Sieb.). 

 Jap., Mitsuba-Akebi. The Japanese name " Mitsuba " 

 means three-leaved, and is hence descriptive of the lead- 

 ing characteristic of this species. As may be seen in the 

 frontispiece, which shows a twig with some clusters of 



