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The Japanese haskap (Lonicera caerulea ssp. edulis var. emphyllocalyx) belongs to Caprifoliaceae (the Honeysuckle family). It is a small deciduous tree that is distributed from Chubu regions of Honshu northward to Hokkaido in Japan, as well as the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and northeastern China. It grows from plains to subalpine zones and is 1 to 2 m tall. The leaves are elliptic, opposite, entire, and hairy or hairless on both sides. The 2 yellowish-white, funnel-shaped flowers bloom from May to June at the tips of short peduncles in the leaf axils. The fruit is an elliptic to spherical berry that connates to form a compound fruit, 12 to 15 mm long, ripening from August to September and turning a powdery blackish purple color. The fruit has a sweet taste and is cultivated for jam, fruit wine, confectionery, and other processing uses. In Chinese, it is called "藍果忍冬" (lan guo ren dong).
The other name "Haskap" comes from the Ainu word "has-kap", which refers to the fruit of this plant. The name "Haskap" is also used for the alpine "Ke-yonomi" (Lonicera caerulea ssp. edulis), which is considered to be the mother species of this plant.
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