Above: Aralia elata growing above the Orchard.
John Brookes and Joyce Robinson both loved to use plants with contrasting shapes, textures, and sizes. The Japanese Angelica Tree (or spikenard) is just such a plant, and it plays its most dramatic role in late summer and early autumn.
One of the Japanese Angelica Tree’s most distinctive characteristics is its form which is just a bit more tree than shrub. It usually has a single, skinny trunk that can grow up to 6-8 metres (20-25 feet), somewhat knobbly and armed with sparse but nasty spines. It is not terribly interesting until the leaves emerge. They appear in early spring, becoming long and wide (up to 1.2 metres or 4 feet long), but because they are compound, (made up of as many as 80 leaflets) they have a somewhat ethereal look, especially when planted alongside bushy evergreen plants as they are here.
In summer airy panicles of soft creamy flowers – up to 60 cm (24 inch) – appear and they are popular with various pollinators. As autumn approaches, they are followed by round black berries, popular with birds, and the leaves begin to turn a light pinkish red, yellow, or even purple.
Japanese Angelica Tree tolerates a wide range of soil types but prefers moist well-drained fertile soil in full sun to part shade. It is a low maintenance plant that does best when protected from heavy winds. It is best planted in small groups and can be permitted to sucker so that it creates a showier display. Because it suckers, however, it may be a difficult plant to use in a small garden.
And a word of caution to North American readers: It is also invasive in along the East Coast where it is easily confused with its native cousin, Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa) and which it is crowding out.
The shoots of Japanese aralia are harvested in Japan where they are considered a traditional food. It is also cultivated as a food and medicinal plant in Korea.
The genus name comes from the Latinization of the French-Canadian name, ‘aralie’ and the specific epithet, ‘elata’, comes from the Latin word for elevated or tall.
