Schisandra. Amur region

Chinese magnolia vine or five-flavor berry (lat. Schisándra chinénsis) is a species of flowering plants of the genus Schisandra in the family Schisandraceae. It is a unique plant of the Far East, a woody deciduous creeping liana 10-15 m long and up to 1.5-2 cm in diameter, in northern areas — up to 2-4 m long, spirally winding supports clockwise.

Europeans learned about Chinese magnolia vine in the early XIX century, about the same time Russian scientists became interested in it. In 1895, botanist and connoisseur of Far Eastern plants Vladimir Komarov published the stories of hunters that, going to the taiga for a long time, they do not take large stocks of food, and instead restore their strength with dried Schisandra berries. Thanks to this, they can chase sables for days without food and rest, keeping vigor of mind and sharpness of eye. Fishermen, leaving for a voyage, stocked up on the juice of the fruit of this liana, as it relieves seasickness.

Later, medicines made from Chinese magnolia vine were used during the Great Patriotic War — they were used to rehabilitate the wounded and given to pilots during night sorties. Schisandra was collected in the coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the Far East. To this day its thickets can be found in the Primorye region, Khabarovsk region, Amur region, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Chinese magnolia vine is a valuable medicinal, essential oil, food and ornamental plant. In folk medicine it has been known since antiquity, and now it has been introduced into scientific medicine. The plant has tonic, refreshing, stimulating properties. Indispensable during strenuous mental work, which requires concentration, attention, integrity of perception.

Lianas are used for landscaping arbors, covering stone walls, lattice hedges, balconies, trellises, thinned hedges, for group plantings on the edges of parks. Five-flavor berry successfully grows on rubbly stony places (in the presence of fertile and sufficiently moist soil between the stones), so it is suitable for covering ("masking") cliffs, wastelands, quarries, ruins, bare banks of water bodies.

In Chinese medicine, Schisandra takes the second place after ginseng in importance and in the olden days it was included in the lists of taxes paid to the emperor.

In the gardens of Amur residents, Schisandra is grown everywhere, but its collection in the wild is prohibited — Chinese magnolia vine is included in the Red Book of the Amur region.