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Symplocos paniculata
Also called Asiatic Sweetleaf
Symplocos paniculata is a shrub or small tree from eastern Asia, grown mainly for its striking blue berries and fragrant early summer flowers. It is hardy and adaptable, and needs a partner plant nearby for good fruiting.
Symplocos paniculata, called Asiatic sweetleaf or sapphire-berry, is a species of tree in the family Symplocaceae. It is native to all of eastern Asia and was introduced to the United States in around 1871. It is a tree reaching 12 m (39 ft) in favorable conditions, though it is often more shrub-like, and is used as an ornamental due to its visually striking blue fruit from which it derives its common name.
The fruit can be made into jam, although it may be difficult to obtain enough berries since the plants do not pollinate themselves. Traditional Bangladeshi healers use the bark as an antidiarrhoeal as it contains an antispasmodic similar to cromakalim. The bark is nontoxic below a dose of 8 milligrams per kilogram.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Symplocos paniculata 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.
