Blueberries of a special brilliance, hardly approached by those of any other hardy plant, make the sapphire berry particularly well named.
This display is at its best in many sections of the country in September, although it may start somewhat earlier in the southern states.
The effect of a well-grown specimen, with its branchlets arching under the weight of the dark turquoise berries, is so impressive that one wonders why they are rarely seen.
Symplocos Paniculata “Sapphire Berry”
Its botanical name is Symplocos paniculata, and it has a large cousin among tropical and subtropical plants.
This group, distinguished by leaves that are often sweet to the taste is known as the sweetleaf family.
Sapphire berry hails from China and Japan and is often referred to as Asiatic sweetleaf.
The only member of the sweetleaf family native to this country is horse sugar, a shrub or small tree which grows wild in front of Delaware southward to Louisiana.
Its thick leaves are so much relished by grazing animals that one way to identify the horse sugar in some areas is to note how consistently it is browsed.
This American species has brownish berries of no particular ornamental value and offers a little inducement to gardeners.
It is rarely cultivated and has not proven adaptable or hardy beyond the general limits of its natural distribution.
It is a different story from the Asiatic species. Sapphire berries develop into substantial plants of interesting form.
They have one or more upright trunks and sturdy branches, making spreading bushes 10’ to 12’ feet high or small trees of much greater stature in some conditions.
They can be treated either as shrubs or small trees. depending upon the number of trunks that develop or how young plants are propagated.
Notable Characteristics
To view the berries fully, it is generally best to prune and hack the leaders so that a dense and bushy framework of branches is produced.
The leaves vary in length from 1” to 3 ½” inches. Their outline is generally obovate, with a wedge-shaped base tapering into a short, thickish petiole.
They are arranged alternately along the stem and increase gradually in size from the base to the tip of the vegetative shoots.
The leaves fall in October or November without any eye-catching display of color.
But, with the lovely blue fruits still vividly in mind, one must be willing to let the shrub rest on its laurels.
The flowers are white and pleasantly fragrant, making a fine display in late spring. They have a delicate brush of stamens at the center, almost as showy as the petals.
While the individual flowers are less than half an inch across, they are set forth so abundantly in panicles at the tips of the side shoots that the effect is showy and pleasing.
During early summer, the slightly elongated berry-like fruits develop until they are about 3/8 inch in length.
By mid-season, when they are mature, their modest green changes to brilliant blue which never fails to draw admiration.
Unless taken by birds or flower-arrangement enthusiasts scouring the garden for material for autumn shows, the blueberries last five or six weeks without losing their color.
Long-Time Residents
Sapphire berries have been residents of this country for just 75 years. It was in 1875.
Near the end of his work in the Imperial Customs, Thomas Hogg of a well-known New York horticultural family sent them to America from Japan. E. H. Wilson, who was always a great admirer of the plant, felt its hardiness and beauty entitled it to much more general use in our gardens.
He wrote of seeing sapphire berries in China around Ichang and in the tributary valleys, he explored along the Yangtze.
Temperatures considerably below zero do not damage sapphire berries, which are certainly easy to grow.
The plant is generally available from nurseries, and buying a few well-developed plants is better than raising them from seed.
The seeds usually remain dormant a year before germinating, and both cuttings and layers are slow to develop at first.
Sapphire Berry Cultural Requirements
Sapphire berries thrive in almost any well-drained soil; no special preparation is required in most cases.
The use of compost, humus, or well-decomposed manure will assist young plants to be. become established. Work these conditioners into the bottom of the hole to encourage the roots to grow deeply.
Ample drainage and abundant sunshine are more important considerations than its particular soil type.
With some exceptions, the most effective plants of this Asiatic shrub are those growing on sloping ground where good drainage is ensured.
It seems very well adapted to terraces and hillsides. Too much coddling and excessive moisture may be why some plants in gardens do not fruit well; the shrub rarely fruits in the more humid climate of England.
One hears the complaint that the fruit is not allowed to attract attention because birds take it as soon as the berries turn blue.
44659 by Ben Blackburn