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Sakaki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the sakaki tree. For other uses see Sakaki (disambiguation).
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 Sakaki, Cleyera japonica
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| Cleyera japonica Thunb. |
Sakaki (Cleyera japonica) is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub native to warm areas of Japan, Korea and mainland China. It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves are 6-10 cm long, smooth, oval, leathery, shiny and dark green above, yellowish-green below, with deep furrows for the leaf stem. The bark is dark reddish brown and smooth. The small, scented, cream-white flowers open in early summer, and are followed later by berries which start red and turn black when ripe. Sakaki is one of the common trees in the second layer of the evergreen oak forests.
The word sakaki may be etymologically derived from the nature of the sakaki as an "evergreen" or "always thriving tree" (sakaeru-ki), indicating prosperity or thriving, or from the use of the tree as a "border-tree" (sakai-ki) used to demarcate sacred space.
The wood is used for buildings, utensils, combs, turneries and fuel.
Sakaki is a sacred tree in the Shinto religion. Branches of sakaki are used in Shinto ritual, often with paper streamers (shide) attached, as offerings before the kami.
- Plants database
- Sakaki - Goo's Tree Encyclopedia
- Plantfiles : detailed information on Sakaki
- Sakaki, Sacred Tree of Shinto
- Encyclopedia of Shinto
