Schisandra

This deciduous, woody-stemmed, twining climber produces clusters of delicate, fragrant white blooms in late spring. The flowers, which resemble miniature magnolia blossoms, are creamy white to light pink in color. The hanging, grape-like clusters of edible red fruits ripen in the early autumn. Autumn foliage color is a brilliant golden yellow. Magnolia vine grows naturally in mixed forests and along streams in moist shady places where few other fruit plants thrive. While the vine is quite shade tolerant, it needs plenty of sun for fruit production. The aromatic, acidic fruit has 7 to 10 times as much vitamin C per ounce as oranges. Traditionally the berries are dried and ground as a powered medicinal herb. The stems can be made into an herbal tea. Magnolia vine is known as "the plant with five tastes" because its fruit includes sweet, sour, salty, pungent and bitter flavors. The fruit, which requires sweetening, is best prepared as a juice or preserve. It is said that in China the dried fruit of magnolia vine, which is quite tart, is combined with the dried fruit of hardy kiwi fruit, which is very sweet with little tartness. The resulting mix is used as a filling for pastries. Unlike most forms of magnolia vine this selection is self-pollinating, so it is only necessary to plant one vine. Fruit production normally begins in 3-5 years after planting.