Schisandra Vine, Eastern Prince

Super hardy, super versatile and super healthful, this selection of Chinese magnolia vine originated in far eastern Russia, from the Vavilov Institute, in Vladivostok. ‘Eastern Prince’ is a self-fertile climber that bears abundant crops of large aggregate fruits that resemble grape clusters. The flowers are small, white, creamy or pink and appear in spring followed by bright red berries that ripen from mid-August to mid-September. The highly nutritious fruits are rich in vitamin E, iron, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus, and may be eaten raw or dried, or stored and sweetened later for juice, extracts, preserves, infusions, or wines and cordials. The leaves may be used to make tea. Also called “five flavor berry”, the flavor is quite complex; a combination of salty, pungent, with a sweet outer shell, sour flesh, and bitter-tart seeds. Vigorous vining plants may be trained on a fence, arbor or pergola, and make a great privacy screen. In the Far East schisandra is one of the most popular herbal plants, along with ginseng. One plant can bear up to 20 lbs. of fruit. Zones 3 – 8.