Elaeocarpus decipiens/Japanese Blueberry Tree

Close-up image of terminal shoots
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Close-up image of terminal shoots	Typical shrubs in a new garden design in New Orleans	Foliage
Space dividers	Dense foliage from ground up to top of shrub	Specimen shrub with lower branches removed to form a small evergreen tree
Black date or olive-like fruit hidden among the foliage on mature plants	Immature green and mature black fruit	Space dividers in a New Orleans garden
Foliage	Makes an excellent privacy hedge of dense, evergreen foliage


Scientific Name:	Elaeocarpus decipiens
Common Name:	Japanese Blueberry Tree
Plant Type:	Evergreen
Leaf Type:	Broadleaf
Hardiness Zone:	9, 10, 11 Determine Your Zone
Height:	15-20 feet
Spread:	5 - 10 feet
Bloom time:	Spring
Flower color:	White, Green
Fruit present:	Summer, Fall
Fruit color:	Green, Black
Light Exposure:	Sun, Part Sun, Morning sun
Drainage:	Well drained, Moist
Rate of Growth:	Moderate
Water Requirement:	Medium
Maintenance Level:	Low
Susceptible to insects and diseases:	No
Comments:	This relatively new introduction to the landscape industry produces dark green, lustrous, leathery foliage and makes a wonderful specimen evergreen upright growing shrub or small evergreen tree in the warm parts of the South. It makes an excellent privacy hedge in the same character as cherry laurel. New emerging foliage has a bronze color. Reported to sustain some tip burn from freezes in Zone 8. Grows best in a moist, fertile, slightly acid to neutral soil and full sunlight to partial shade. Greenish white flowers and olive-like fruit usually hidden among the foliage, but flowers can be fragrant when produced in a mass. Fruit report to be somewhat messy when they drop on paved surfaces.