Nandina, Heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo

Description:

Nandina domestica Compacta commonly known as Nandina, Heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Japan. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Nandina.

Habitat:

Nandina is considered invasive in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. It was placed on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s invasive list as a Category I species, the highest listing. It has been observed in the wild in Florida in Gadsden Leon, Jackson, Alachua, and Citrus counties, in conservation areas, woodlands and floodplains. In general, the purchase or continued cultivation of non-sterile varieties in the southeastern United States is discouraged.

Notes:

History of Species: N. domestica, grown in Chinese and Japanese gardens for centuries, was brought to Western gardens by William Kerr, who sent it to London in his first consignment from Canton in 1804. The English, unsure of its hardiness, kept it in greenhouses at first. The scientific name given to it by Carl Peter Thunberg is a Latinized version of a Japanese name for the plant, nan-ten. Nandina is widely grown in gardens as Ornamental Plant Over 65 cultivars have been named in Japan, where the species is particularly popular and a national Nandina society exists. In Shanghai berried sprays of Nandina are sold in the streets at New Year, for the decoration of house altars and temples.