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Araliaceae FAMILY

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Shrub
GrowthSlow

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -30°c when fully dormant[1, 2]. Plants are hardy to at least -15°c if they are sheltered from cold winds[1]. An extremely adaptable plant, it prefers a light, warm, open, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained soil and a position sheltered from north and east winds, but can succeed in a wide range of soils. It generally thrives in full sun as well as moderate shade and can tolerate both urban pollution and poor soils[3, 1, 2]. Cultivated as a medicinal and culinary plant in Japan[4], there are some named varieties selected for their ornamental value[1]. Promptly remove root suckers in order to maintain appearance unless naturalizing the plant[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame[1]. It can be slow to germinate. Stored seed requires 6 months warm followed by 3 months cold stratification[5] and can be very slow to germinate[6]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse for at least the first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame[5, 1]. Cuttings of ripe wood of the current season's growth, 15 - 30cm long in a cold frame[7]. Root cuttings in late winter[1]. Division of suckers in the dormant season[1]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Eleutherococcus+sieboldianus>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  3. [3]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  4. [4]Flora of Japan. (English translation) — Ohwi. G. · Smithsonian Institution · 1965 · ISBN - ↩︎The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.
  5. [5]The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. — Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. · Athens Ga. Varsity Press · 1987 · ISBN 0942375009 ↩︎A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Growing from Seed. Volume 1. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1987 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  7. [7]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  8. [8]Flora of Japan — http://www.foj.info ↩︎An on-line version of the flora - an excellent resource.
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]Effects of Flavonoids and Triterpene Analogues from Leaves of Eleutherococcus sieboldianus (Makino) Koidz. ‘Himeukog — Atsuyoshi Nishina et al · 2017 · doi:10.3390/molecules22040671 ↩︎
  15. [15]Anti-diabetic and Hypoglycemic Effect of Eleutherococcus spp — Sang Hyun Lim et al · 2010 · DOI: 10.3746/jkfn.2010.39.12.176 ↩︎