Holboellia coriacea |
Native Region: China
Zone Range: 7-10
Preferred Climate: Full to semi sun; well draining humus rich acidic soil
Harvest Date: Thursday 10 November, 2011
Seed count: 15-20
Description:
A vigorous evergreen woody vine with thick glossy dark green trifoliate leaves. In spring it produces fragrant bell flowers consisting of two layers...a pale ivory pink outer and a pale mauve-pink inner. In the fall plum-like sized edible* richly coloured purple fruits are usually borne in pairs, very unique. Its a lot hardier than some people give it credit for as it survived our -14C winter of 2008/9. Grows to 7-8 meters. A friend of mine refers to the plant as 'vine plum', which is a more apt description than 'sausage vine'.
Notes:
*Edible*...references state the fruit is edible as its Decaisnea cousin, but in this case it means that your face won't fall off when you sample it.
Cultivation:
Soak seed 24 hours. Baggie sow in moist coarse sand. Warm stratify 30 days then cold stratify for 3-5 months. Could germinate in the baggie, but germinates well after placed back on gentle heat. Might need light to germinate as it did under the light on the computer desk. Easy and fast growing. Lovely.
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