Five leaf aralia (Eleutherococcus sieboldianus)

Synonyms: Acanthopanax sieboldianus

Common Names: Five-leaf aralia, Aralia, Five-fingered aralia, Acanthopanax sieboldianus `Variegatus?

Description: First introduced as an ornamental plant and is commercially available in North America. It is often used in urban sites, where conditions do not allow other plants to grow.

Habit: Upright, fast growing, deciduous shrub with arching branches. Can reach a maximum height and width of 6 to 8 feet.

Leaves: Alternate, toothed, compound and palmate. Each leaf contains 5 to 7 leaflets that are 1 to 2.5 inches long by 1 inch wide and petioles can grow up to 3 inches. Coloration varies but are usually a rich, dark green while some variegated forms will have white leaves. Leaves remain on plant into late fall; no fall coloration occurs.

Stems: Long, arching main branches that become erect with age. Gray in color and warty. Stems have short spines are found at each leaf bud.

Flowers: Small and greenish-white in color. Flowers bloom May through June and occur in clusters (an umbel).

Fruit and seeds: Fruits occur in clusters, producing small black berries; each berry contains 2 to 5 seeds that are 0.25 inches.

Habitat: Native to China and Japan. Found in forests, open forests, edges, hedgerows, landscaping. Highly tolerant of a wide range of conditions.

Reproduction: Capable of forming new roots when branches touch the ground. Softwood cuttings also root very easily.

Similar species: Bishop's goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).

Monitoring and rapid response: Cutting is not recommended. Plants can be controlled using Glyphosate or Triclopyr Amine foliar spray as well as Triclopyr Ester or Pathfinder basal bark treatment.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and BugwoodWiki.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).

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