Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Nandina domestica

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Jim Varnum, Texas, USA

Fruit and leaves. Photographers Clinton & Charlie Robertson, Texas, USA

Shrub. Photographer Kenpei, Japan

Common name

Japanese Sacred Bamboo, Nanten, Heavenly Bamboo, Sacred Bamboo

Family

Berberidaceae

Where found

Bushland edges, woodland, gardens, and along drainage lines. Sydney area and the mountains to the west. Canberra. Occasionally elsewhere.

Notes

Introduced evergreen shrub, sometimes deciduous in colder climates, to 3 m high. Fruit fleshy. Stems scarred or sheathed by leaf bases. Leaves alternating up the stems, to 50 cm long, compound, bipinnate or tripinnate, clustered towards the summit of the stems. Leaflets to 7 cm long, 20 mm wide, hairless, green or lime green becoming red to purple in autumn, midvein conspicuous, tips pointed. Young leaves often pinkish. Flowers to 7.5 mm in diameter, with 3-6 white petals. Flower clusters to 40 cm long. Fruit about 10 mm in diameter, bright red. Flowers mainly summer.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Nandina~domestica  (accessed 28 January, 2021)