Cleyera japonica (sakaki) is a flowering evergreen tree native to warm areas of Japan, Taiwan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and northern India (Min and Bartholomew 2015). It can reach a height of 10 m (33 ft). The leaves are 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long, smooth, oval, leathery, shiny and dark green above, yellowish-green below, with deep furrows for the leaf stem. The bark is dark reddish brown and smooth. The small, scented, cream-white flowers open in early summer, and are followed later by berries which start red and turn black when ripe. Sakaki is one of the common trees in the second layer of the evergreen oak forests.
From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is it poisonous?
We have no record of Cleyera japonica being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.
Easily confused with
- Adinandra formosana
- Ilex ficoidea — considered toxic
- Magnolia compressa
- Distylium racemosum
- Eurya nitida
- Aquilaria sinensis
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Ericales
- Family
- Pentaphylacaceae
- Genus
- Cleyera
- Species
- Cleyera japonica
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