Authors: Thunb.  

Botanical Description

Height usually around 1.5-2m with many stems from the base, mostly unbranched, erect. Leaves bi- or tripinnate, the leaflets elliptic, up to 5cm long, slender-pointed, flushed coppery-red when young and turning purple to reddish in autumn. Flowers in terminal panicles, white, composed of many perianth segments, only the inner ones petal-like, summer. Fruits globular, to 7mm across, rich red, rarely white or purple. Native to mountainous areas in the warmer regions, often in woodland. In Japan many cultivars are grown. Several have also been selected in New Zealand and America. A few of these are available in Britain, notably 'Firepower', dwarf with good red autumn colour, 'Pygmaea', dwarf, 'Nana Purpurea', dwarf with purplish young foliage and 'Richmond', taller-growing and more regularly inclined to flower and fruit.