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Skimmia japonica
Japanese skimmia is a dense, evergreen shrub grown for its glossy leaves, fragrant spring flowers and autumn berries on female plants. It thrives in shade or part shade in moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil; full sun scorches the leaves. This entry covers the species; the genus has many varieties that differ in height and form.
Skimmia japonica, the Japanese skimmia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae. Native to Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Philippines, and the Russian Far East, it is commonly grown in parks and gardens for its evergreen leaves, fragrant flowers, and attractive fruit. It is a highly variable species, with its varieties differing in height, spread, and chromosome count, among other things.
Skimmia japonica is grown in shaded sites for its evergreen leaves, lightly fragrant spring flowers, and the fruit that develop on female plants in autumn. It has no notable pest or disease issues. It is suitable for shrub borders, woodland gardens, foundation plantings, hedges, and other partly shaded understory settings. It performs best in moist, humus-rich, moderately fertile soils that drain well, in conditions ranging from partial to full shade. Its leaves can scorch if exposed to full sun. S. japonica was the first member of its genus to be grown in Britain; the earliest record, referring to S. japonica var. reevesiana, is from Kew Garden in 1858.
The native range of Skimmia japonica includes Japan, Taiwan, and Sakhalin. In Japan, S. japonica var. japonica grows in low-mountain forests on Honshu (from the Kanto region westward), Shikoku, and Kyushu, and can be common locally. In Japan, S. japonica var. intermedia occurs in the southern Kuriles, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. They grow on the floor of deciduous forests and are especially widespread in the heavy-snow regions of Hokkaido and Honshu on the Sea of Japan side. They are much less frequent in the colder, high-elevation deciduous forests of Honshu west of Kanto on the Pacific side, as well as in Shikoku and Kyushu. Beyond Japan, the variety is also found in the Kuriles and Sakhalin.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Skimmia japonica 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
