Habitat: full or partial shade
Soil: any good garden soil
Height: 2 m
Flowering: late summer
Width: 2.0 m
Impressive architectural plants, trees or small shrubs, some with spiny stems and most with glossy, black fruit.
Aralia cordata is an elegant upright herbaceous perennial, ideal for a shady spot. Large divided leaves form a bold backdrop for beautiful umbels of small white flowers, followed by purple berries in autumn. The Japanese spikenard is native to East Asia and popular in Japanese cooking - the young stems are said to have a unique lemon-like flavour.