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Breynia vitis-idaea
Breynia vitis-idaea is a perennial shrub or small tree in the Phyllanthaceae family, native from India east to Taiwan and Okinawa and south to Indonesia, reaching about 3 m. It is grown mainly as an ornamental or for local medicinal use, and the key to growing it is warm, frost-free conditions with regular moisture.
Breynia vitis-idaea, the officinal breynia, is a perennial tree-like species of Phyllanthaceae (Euphorbiaceae s.l.), found from India east to Taiwan and Okinawa and south to Indonesia. It is a shrub or treelet with egg-shaped leaves that can reach up to 3 m tall. It has staminate flowers and spherical, red fruit.
Breynia vitis-idaea is pollinated by the leafflower moth Epicephala vitisidaea in Fujian, China and the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The moth actively pollinates the flowers, but lays an egg into the space between the external carpel wall and the tepals. The moth caterpillars consume a subset of the tree's seeds, receiving nourishment in return.
Breynia vitis-idaea poisoning causes hepatocellular liver injury.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Breynia vitis-idaea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
