Easily cultivated in a warm sunny position in any soil of reasonable quality, thriving on poor sandy or gravelly soils. Tolerates atmospheric pollution. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun. Often cultivated in Japan for the fibre in its bark, the tree is coppiced annually for this purpose. Some plants are monoecious whilst others are dioecious. Male and female plants must usually be grown if seed is required.

Fruit - raw. A sweet taste. The fruit comprises a ball about 1cm in diameter with small edible fruits protruding - there is not much edible flesh but it has a lovely flavor. Prolonged ingestion of the fruit is said to weaken the bones. Leaves - cooked and used as a vegetable. Flowers. No more details.

Seed - no pre-treatment is required. Sown in the autumn or spring in a greenhouse, germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 months at 15°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 8 - 12cm long with a heel, July/August in a frame. High percentage. Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, November in a frame. Root cuttings in winter. Layering in spring.

Forest margins, low mountains and near houses.