Common Name: Nigaki

General Information

Picrasma quassioides is a deciduous shrub or a tree that can grow up to 10 metres tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

E. Asia - northern India, Nepal, southern and eastern China, Japan, Korea.

Habitat

Lowland woods and hills[]. Forests in higher hills, growing in ravines under mixed forests of deodar, oak, fir etc,; at elevations from 1,400 - 22400 metres[, ].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	10.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

According to [] this plant is only hardy to zone 10 (not tolerating frosts) but there are healthy trees in many parts of Britain including one 8.5 metres tall at Kew in 1981, one 8 metres tall seen growing in light woodland shade at Cambridge Botanical Gardens where it was bearing fruit in the autumn of 1996 and one 9 metres tall at Westonbirt in 1980[, ].
Requires a fertile humus-rich moisture-retentive loam in a sunny position[]. Plants also succeed when growing in semi-shade[].
The tree grows slowly, there are aroun 6 - 7 annual growth rings per centimeter on the trunk[].
A dioecious species[], both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required,
The foliage turns bright red and orange in the autumn[].

Edible Uses

Fruit[, ]. The fruit is a pea-like red drupe[, ]. The fruit is a berry about 7mm in diameter[].

Young buds (the report does not say if they are flower or leaf buds) are used to make a tea[, , ].

A bitter substance called quassin' is extracted from (the bark of?) the tree and can be used as a hop substitute in brewing beer[].

Medicinal

The bitter-tasting wood contains a number of medicinal compounds and has been shown to be a non-astringent anthelmintic, amoebicidal, antiviral, bitter tonic, hypotensive and stomachic[]. It increases the flow of gastric juices[]. It is used as a supporting medicine for temporary relief in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver[]. The wood is used in Korea in the treatment of digestive problems, especially chronic dyspepsia[].

A decoction of the stem bark is bitter, febrifuge and tonic[, , , , , , , ].

The leaves have been used to treat itchy skins[, ]. The leaves are used to treat scabies[].

Many indole alkaloids of beta-carboline, canthin-6-one and beta-carboline dimer type, have been isolated from the wood. These are reported to increase the blood flow rate in the intestine and stomach, and they also exhibited antiviral activity on Herpes simplex virus[].
Nigaki lactone and methylnigakinone, isolated from the wood, have shown antigastric ulcer activity in rats. An extract of the wood is reported to prevent the secretion of gastric juice in a dose-dependent manner[]

Other Uses

The bark is used as an insecticide[, ]. Another report says that it is the wood that is used[]. It is a substitute for the insecticide quassia, which is obtained from the wood of a tropical tree[]. Quassia is a relatively safe organic insecticide that breaks down quickly and is of low toxicity to mammals. It has been used as a parasiticide to get rid of lice, fleas etc.

A fatty oil is obtained from the seed[]. No uses are mentioned.

The heartwood is bright yellow, the sapwood white. The wood is moderately hard, fine and close grained. There is a pretty, silver grain on radial sections. It is used for mosaic, utensils etc[, , , ].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months cold stratification[] and should be sown as early in the year as possible. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame[].
Root cuttings 4cm long in December. Plant them out horizontally in pots in a greenhouse[].