Rubus xanthocarpus
Bureau & Franch.
Huang guo xuan gou zi
(c) Xiaogang Zhou, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Xiaogang Zhou
(c) andalevanta, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Wikimedia Commons - Sten
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, and is also used for making jams, jelly, and wine. It has a raspberry-like flavour. The orange-yellow fruit measures about 15mm in diameter.
Dangerous Lookalikes
This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.
Red Baneberry: Short herbaceous plant (no thorns), berries on thick red stems, each berry has a single seed, compound sharply-toothed leaves.
Huang guo xuan gou zi: Thorny woody canes (brambles), aggregate berry made of many drupelets, berries pull easily from receptacle.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. It grows between 600-3,200 m altitude in southern provinces in China.
Asia, China*,
How to Identify
A hardy perennial growing 0.1 m tall and spreading to 1 m wide, hardy to UK zone 6. Hermaphroditic flowers are pollinated by insects and bloom in June with seeds ripening in July. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage. Grows in mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soil. Can thrive in semi-shade or full sun and prefers consistently moist conditions.
How to Grow
Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade. Occasionally cultivated for its yellow fruits.
Propagation: Seed requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed should be stratified for one month at around 3°C and sown as early in the year as possible. Prick out seedlings when large enough to handle, grow on in a cold frame, and plant into permanent positions in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood can be taken in July or August in a frame. Tip layering in July; plant out in autumn. Division in early spring or just before leaf-fall in autumn.
Medicinal Uses
The entire young plant is used medicinally, though no further details are recorded.
Other Uses
A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Rubus xanthocarpus is a species of flowering plant in the raspberry genus Rubus, family Rosaceae. It is native to central and southern China, and has naturalized in Poland and the former Czechoslovakia. It is available from commercial suppliers. The orange-yellow fruit are edible, taste similar to raspberries, and can be eaten raw or made into preserves or wine.
Notes
There are about 250 Rubus species.
Names & Synonyms
Diuhin, Huang mao zi
References (7)
- Flora of China. www.eFloras.org
- J. Bot. (Morot) 5:46. 1891
- Kang, Y., et al, 2014, Wild food plants used by the Tibetans of Gongba Valley (Zouqu country, Gansu, China) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 10:20
- Kang, J. et al, 2016, Wild food plants and fungi used in the mycophilous Tibetan community of Zhagana (Tewo Country, Gansu, China) Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 12:21
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 600
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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