Five-finger akebia

Racemes of fragrant red-purple chocolate-scented flowers in spring are followed by 3" blue grey sausage shaped fruits on a large 20-30' twining vine with handsome 5-"fingered" semi-evergreen foliage, sure to excite comment. Vine provides summer shade and screening. The fruits contain edible pulp. The gelatinous placentation contains seeds but have a sweet flavor, used to make jelly or juice and enjoyed by children playing out in the countryside in the olden days in Japan. The rind, with a slight bitter taste, is used as vegetable, e.g., stuffed with ground meat and deep-fried. In the Chinese pharmacopoeia it is believed to be therapeutic as a diuretic, antiphlogistic, galactagogue and analgesic. The principal use of the herb in China is as a traditional remedy for insufficient lactation in nursing mothers. The medicinal part of the plant is the woody stem which is sliced in transverse sections and prepared as a decoction. The stem contains approximately 30% potassium salts thus giving the diuretic action. The vines are traditionally used for basket-weaving. Also known as Chocolate Vine. Tags: Type: Vining, Color: Blue, Certification: Organic.

Akebia quinata is a shrub that is native to Japan, Eastern China and Korea and naturalized in the eastern United States from Georgia to Michigan to Massachusetts. Native habitat: Woods, hedges and thickets in mountainous areas. Forest margins along streams, scrub on mountain slopes at elevations of 300–1500 meters in China.