Gumi-berry: description and useful properties

Gumi is a berry, little known in our country, but widespread in the south of Sakhalin, in Korea, Japan and China.

Description of the gum fruit

This decorative and medicinal plant,which is the closest relative of sea buckthorn and shepherdia, is incredibly beautiful. Green leathery leaves are elliptical in shape, characterized by a shiny smooth surface and reminiscent of laurel; from below are painted in silver color. Bright red berries, hanging on long stems, covered with silvery dots, look like a dogwood, and slightly astringent taste - on a ripe persimmon.

Excellent honey, attracting bees with aromaflowers. The shape of the fruit is cylindrical or spherical. The plant is compact, of medium height, about 3 meters with a crown diameter of 2.5 meters. Has sparsely arranged spines. The root system of the branched type is not deep: about 40 cm. On the roots there are nodules in which nitrogen-fixing bacteria inhabit.

Gumi-berry: features of growth

In the first fructification of gumi (aka Lochmultiflorous) enters the third year of planting. Flowering begins in June, fruits ripen in the middle of summer. They are firmly attached to the branches, do not crumble, do not fall off when frosts come and break away with effort. Maturation is not simultaneous, therefore harvesting takes place in several stages (in July). From one adult bush, you can get about 10 kg of delicious and very juicy fruits, characterized by high transportability: when transporting berries do not give juice.

Gumi berries (photo can be seen above) are delicious infresh and dried form, are used in jams, jams, compotes, fully disclose their taste in sour-sweet sauces to meat. In the process of storage, they do not wither, but as if wilted, about 8 months are in a frozen form.

By the way, the Gumi meets winter in full parade, withelegant green crown. Possessing signs of an evergreen plant (young and old leaves coexist together for 3 years), the shrub is still considered deciduous: it can discard foliage in the height of summer and plunge into a state of rest.

Gumi berries: benefit and harm

Gumi in its composition contains a lot of usefulamino acids, sugars, carotene, phenolic compounds, tannic and pectin substances, phosphorus, potassium and calcium salts, which is very much appreciated in folk medicine. The amount of vitamin C in the leaves and fruits of the plant is several times greater than in the black currant and citrus fruits.

Gum berries, useful properties of which aredignity are appreciated by folk medicine, have tonic, anti-inflammatory, tonic properties, prevent the development of sclerosis, have a beneficial effect on blood circulation, are used in cardiovascular diseases and stomach problems.

It is not recommended to use gum fruits only incase of individual intolerance. In diabetes mellitus should limit their number. There are no other contraindications for the eastern berries.

Decorative properties of gumi

Gumi bush is externally very decorative and for anysite is a real decoration, you can say, a visiting card. In winter, the plant is distinguished by light olive branches with rounded, like linden, buds. Spring pleases with light-cream flowers of tubular form, which publish an incredibly pleasant aroma, and beautiful leaves: bright green in summer and yellow-orange in winter. Thanks to the golden-brown sparkles, with which fruits, leaves and shoots are strewn, the plant stands out clearly on the surrounding background.

Features of care

In the care berry gumi, the cultivation of which is not particularly difficult, completely unprincipled, the plant is frost-resistant (withstands temperatures to -30^aboutC), is not afraid of pests and diseases. In the case of frostbite, it can quickly recover and start new shoots. Nevertheless, gumi is a berry, young shoots of which in the first years of cultivation are recommended to cover: bend to the ground, then cover with brushwood and leaves.

The plant reacts positively to fertilizing andregular watering, practically does not form a root shoot. Feeding measures should be carried out annually, making for each bush 8 kg of compost, 150 grams of wood ash and 30 grams of double superphosphate. Watering is abundantly recommended for young plants, adult specimens for drought are patient.

Because of the proximity of the root systemThe soil near the bush is not recommended for loosening, it is better to use mulching. In pruning the shrub does not need, except in the sanitary. After 13-15 years after planting, it is recommended to rejuvenate the plant.

Reproduction of the eastern berry

The gumi-berries propagate in several ways: division of a bush, seeds and layers. The seed method is the easiest and consists of harvesting fruits, cleaning them from pulp and placing them in paper bags before stratification. Then the seeds should be mixed with wood sawdust and buried in the soil at a depth of 30 cm (winter time). A month before planting, remove, place in a plastic bag with a substrate and periodically moisturize. Next, the landing in boxes and content in greenhouse conditions.

With quality care, young seedlings over the summerwill be half a meter high. In winter, they need to be sheltered, can be identified in a warm room to grow. Landing in the open ground is made after the appearance of at least three shoots and reaching the root system of 20-centimeter length.