Sakaki

Sakaki
Sakaki, Cleyera japonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Pentaphylacaceae
Genus:	Cleyera
Species:	C. japonica
Binomial name
Cleyera japonica Thunb.

Cleyera japonica (sakaki) is a flowering evergreen tree native to warm areas of Japan, Taiwan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and northern India. It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves are 6–10 cm long, smooth, oval, leathery, shiny and dark green above, yellowish-green below, with deep furrows for the leaf stem. The bark is dark reddish brown and smooth. The small, scented, cream-white flowers open in early summer, and are followed later by berries which start red and turn black when ripe. Sakaki is one of the common trees in the second layer of the evergreen oak forests. It is considered sacred to Japanese Shintō faith, and is one of the classical offerings at Shintō shrines.

Sakaki wood is used for making utensils (especially combs), building materials, and fuel. It is commonly planted in gardens, parks, and shrines.

Sakaki is considered a sacred tree in the Shinto religion, along with other evergreens such as hinoki (檜 "Japanese cypress"), and kansugi (神杉 "sacred cryptomeria"). Shinto shrines are traditionally encircled with Shinboku 神木 "sacred trees". In Shinto ritual offerings to the kami 神 "gods; spirits", branches of sakaki are decorated with (shide) paper streamers to make tamagushi.

The Japanese word sakaki is written with a kanji character that combines ki "tree; wood" and kami "spirit; god", depicting "sacred tree; divine tree". The lexicographer Michael Carr notes,

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