Peach leaf coral is used as an ornamental hedge with a mountain and stone courtyard, and several trees in the courtyard can be ornamented in four seasons.

Peach leaf coral

Peach leaf coral (Aucuba chinensis Benth.) evergreen shrub of Cornaceae, branchlets green, pilose, old branches with white lenticels.

Leaves opposite, thinly leathery, long elliptic to Obovate-lanceolate, 10-20 cm long, leaf tip with tail tip, leaf base cutting, entire or middle and upper part sparsely toothed, leaf hirsute, petiole ca. 3 cm, flowers purple, arranged in raceme, drupe berrylike, crimson when ripe.

The ripening period is from November to February of the following year.

Morphological characteristics

Peach Leaf Coral (original subspecies) Aucuba chinensis Benth. Subsp. Chinensis small evergreen trees or shrubs, 3-6 (- 12) m tall

Branchlets stout, dichotomous, green, smooth; lenticels white, long elliptic or elliptic, sparse

Leaf scars are large and conspicuous.

Winter buds globose, scales 4 pairs, reciprocal, outer whorl shorter, ovate, the rest broadly oval, the outer apex of the inner two whorls pilose.

Leaves leathery, elliptic or broadly elliptic, sparsely Obovate-elliptic, 10-20 cm long, 3.5-8 cm wide, apex acute or obtuse, base broadly cuneate or cuneate, sparse bilaterally asymmetric, margin slightly revolute, often with 5-8 pairs of serrated or glandular teeth, sometimes coarsely serrated

Leaves dark green above, light green below, midrib slightly conspicuous above, protruding below, lateral veins 6-8 (- 10) pairs, sparsely intersecting midrib at right angles

Petiole 2-4 cm long, stout, smooth.

Panicle terminal, peduncle pilose, male inflorescence more than 5 cm long

Male flowers green (February), purplish red (Hainan Flora) Calyx apex 4-toothed, glabrous or sparsely pilose

Petals 4, oblong or ovate, 3-4 mm long and 2-2.5 mm wide, outside sparsely hairy or glabrous, apex mucronate; stamens 4, ca. 3 mm, inserted on outer side of disk, anthers yellow, 2-loculed

Disk fleshy, slightly 4-angled

Pedicel ca. 3 mm, pilose

Bracts 1, lanceolate, 3 mm long, outside sparsely pilose.

Female inflorescences are shorter than male inflorescences, about 4-5 cm long, calyx and petals close to male flowers, ovary cylindrical, style stout, stigma capitate, slightly oblique.

Disk fleshy, slightly 4-lobed; flowers with 2 bracteoles, lanceolate, ca. 4-6 mm, margin with eyelashes

Flowers articulate, pilose.

The young fruit is green, mature bright red, cylindrical or ovate, 1.4-1.8 cm long and 8-10 (12) mm in diameter. sepals, styles and stigmas all persist at the upper end of the drupe.

The flowering period is from January to February, and the fruit maturity is up to February of the following year, often on the branches with the inflorescence of 2012.

Peach leaf coral (original variety) Aucuba chinensis Benth. Subsp. Chinensis var. Chinensis

Leaves of this variety leathery, elliptic, sparsely Obovate-elliptic, 3-8 cm wide. It is easy to distinguish from narrow-leaf peach leaf coral (variety).

Growing environment

Often born in evergreen broad-leaved forests below 1000 meters above sea level.

Like warm and humid environment, strong shade tolerance, not drought, not cold, requires fertile, moist, well-drained soil, is a shade-tolerant shrub, afraid of strong light exposure in summer, not resistant to high temperature.

Distribution range

Distributed in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Hubei, Sichuan, Fujian, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hainan and other regions. According to the literature, it is also distributed in Vietnam.

Reproduction method

1. Location: peach leaf coral is shady, but it is best to put it in a place with bright light.

2, temperature: peach leaf coral likes warmth, is not cold-resistant, and is afraid of high temperature in summer. when the temperature exceeds 24 ℃, it should spray water to the leaves of the plant in time, or place it on wet pebbles to increase air humidity.

3. Watering: peach leaf coral needs a lot of watering throughout the year to keep the basin soil moist.

4. Fertilization: peach leaf corals apply standard liquid fertilizer once a month.

5. Cultivation and changing pots: peach leaf corals should be planted in loam soil with loose and good drainage. The root system of the plant is not very developed, so it is not necessary to change the pot every year. If you need to change the basin, you can do it in the spring.

6. Propagation: peach leaf coral is commonly used for cutting propagation, which should be carried out in spring. Select 10-15 cm long branches, insert them into a small basin, cover with plastic film, and keep the temperature at normal room temperature.

Cultivation techniques

Peach leaf coral is a dioecious plant, which is cultivated in combination with male and female plants with multiple seeds.

When changing basins in spring, pay attention to root and aboveground pruning. Transplanting should be carried out in spring or rainy season.

High temperature and strong light in summer to keep the soil moist and shady. Fertilizer was applied once a month, and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer was applied twice in autumn.

Peach leaf coral has strong growth and extensive management.

The mixed soil of peat soil (2 parts) and coarse sand (1 part) can be used for cultivation, a small amount of base fertilizer should be applied before planting, liquid fertilizer should be irrigated every 3-4 weeks during the growth period, and the basin soil should be kept moist and placed in semi-shade to avoid direct light.

Keep the greenhouse temperature above 10 ℃ in winter and reduce watering. Rarely harmed by diseases and insect pests.

Sowing and cutting methods can be used for propagation, and for varieties that are difficult to survive by cutting, seedlings can be used as rootstocks for grafting.

The best time is the mildew and rain season from May to June. The semi-lignified branches of the same year are selected, which are 15 cm long, leaving 2 leaves, and the survival rate is more than 95%.

Pest control

Peach leaf coral is a negative plant and can not tolerate strong sunlight. Midsummer venom burns its young leaves seriously, resulting in curling and withering yellow leaves or scorched leaves, seriously affecting the growth of the plant, and some pathogens take advantage of the deficiency to further cause infectious diseases. the fruiting body of the disease can be seen in some disease spots.

Rhododendron is a semi-negative plant, the etiology of scorched leaf disease is similar to the above, the occurrence of tender leaves is more serious, the disease caused a large number of abnormal defoliation.

There are mainly anthracnose and brown spot damage, indoor cultivation, red spiders and shell insects harm.

Prevention and control methods:

Because of the sudden and strong wind and rain in midsummer, ⑴ must remove the existing diseased leaves and fallen leaves in time and destroy them on the spot, so as to prevent the existing bacteria from taking advantage of wind and rain to expand the scope of infection.

⑵ strengthens the management, enhances the growth potential of trees and improves the disease resistance of plants.

⑶ spray inhibited the development and spread of the disease. Chlorothalonil and Meike were sprayed every 10 days, 3000-4000 times.

Main value

This species is a good plant for ornamental leaves and fruits. South China can also be used as an ornamental hedge or with rocks. Several plants are dotted in the courtyard and courtyard, which can be ornamented in four seasons.

Leaves are also fine fodder for dairy cows.