Purple Oil Wood Leaves are the tender leaves of the fragrance wood tree, a plant in the Anacardiaceae family. The tender leaves are harvested in spring and can be used fresh or dried. How to plant purple oil wood leaves?
The Original Form of Purple Oil Wood Leaves
The fragrance wood is an evergreen shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 2-8m, occasionally up to 10-15m. The bark is gray, and the small branches have brown lenticels, while the young branches are covered with gray-yellow soft hairs.
The leaves are pinnately compound, with 4-9 pairs of leaflets, and the leaf axis has narrow wings and grooves on the upper surface, covered with grayish soft hairs. The leaflets have very short petioles.
The leaflets are leathery, elongated or obovate-oblong, relatively small, measuring 1.3-3.5cm in length and 0.8-1.5cm in width. The apex is slightly notched, with spiny hard tips.
The base is slightly asymmetrical, broadly wedge-shaped, with entire margins and slightly curled back. The midrib on both sides is covered with very fine soft hairs, and the upper surface is slightly glossy. The inflorescence is a axillary cone-shaped raceme, emerging along with the leaves.
The flowers are small, purple-red, sessile, with 1 bract, ovate in shape. The male flowers have 5-8 petals, elongated or lanceolate, measuring 1.5-2mm in length. There are 5, occasionally 7, stamens with very short filaments and elongated anthers. The sterile pistils are present.
The female flowers have 7-10 ovate-lanceolate petals, measuring 1-1.5mm in length. The ovary is spherical, about 0.7mm in diameter, hairless, with a very short style and a 3-lobed stigma that bends outward.
The fruit is spherical, about 5mm long and 6mm in diameter. When ripe, it turns red and has a slender pointed tip and a reticulated surface.
Planting Purple Oil Wood Leaves
Purple oil wood leaves prefer a warm and humid climate with abundant sunlight and well-drained soil for cultivation.
Since the main roots of the plant penetrate deep into the soil, it is suitable to plant them in sandy loam soil with deep soil layers and rich humus.
Purple oil wood is propagated by seeds. Harvest mature and plump fruits, dry them, and store them in sand.
Sow the seeds in March of the following year, in furrows with a spacing of 30cm. The distance between seeds is 5cm. After covering the seeds with soil, water them to keep the soil moist.
Transplant when the seedlings reach a height of 35-40cm. Plant them with a spacing of 300cm x 300cm.
Precautions for Using Purple Oil Wood Leaves
It is not advisable to eat raw, cold, or greasy foods when using purple oil wood leaves.
