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Schisandra chinensis (common name: magnolia-vine, Chinese magnolia-vine, schisandra), whose fruit is called magnolia berry or five-flavor-fruit (from Chinese wǔ wèi zi), is a vine plant native to forests of Northern China, the Russian Far East and Korea. Wild varieties of Schisandra chinensis are also found in Japan. In Russia, Schisandra chinensis is also called Limonnik or Maximowich’s red grape. The name Limonnik comes from the lemony smell of different plant organs, especially the leaves.

Taxonomy
The genus Schisandra was first published by André Michaux in 1803. The name Schisandra derived from the Greek words schizein ('to split') and andros ('man') which refers to the separate anther cells on the stamens.

Today, Schisandra chinensis belongs to the family of Schisandraceae. In earlier years, it was assumed that the species belonged to the family of Magnoliaceae, hence the name Chinese magnolia-vine. However, many differences in plant phenology between  Schisandra  and members of  Magnoliaceae lead to the formation of Schisandraceae.

Vegetative plant organs
Schisandra chinensis is a perennial, deciduous woody vine plant that is found at high latitudes and in cool climatic conditions. It commonly grows in natural coniferous or mixed forests or along streams and climbs up other trees or shrubs to reach optimal light conditions. The lianas show a clockwise spiral growth pattern which gives them support, since the plant does not produce tendrils or other structures for climbing. The prostrate lianas usually grow 8-9m tall but can reach a length of up to 25m. They are dark brown in colour and can reach 1.5-2 cm in thickness.

S. chinensis produces new shoots in spring which grow out of the stems of the previous year. These shoots are typically short, but they continue their growth after flowering until late in the season. The leaves are simple, oval-shaped (5-11 cm long and 3-7 cm wide) and alternating and the petioles have a slight red colouring. Multicellular trichomes are located on the abaxial leaf lamina. Stomata show a irregular, random distribution.

The roots of Schisandra chinensis are branched and stay close to the soil surface. Nodes located on the stems can also produce roots.

Generative plant organs
The flowers of Schisandra are unisexual and the species itself is dioecious. The plant is therefore not self-fertile, hence flowers on a female plant will only produce fruit when fertilized with pollen from a male plant. However, a hybrid selection titled 'Eastern Prince' has perfect flowers and is self-fertile. Seedlings of 'Eastern Prince' are sometimes sold under the same name, but are typically single-sex plants.

The female flowers are white or cream-coloured and turn slightly reddish to the end of the flowering season. They have 5-12 waxy, spirally aranged tepals forming the perianth and 12-120 pistils. The tepals show a transition in colour from green for the outer tepals to more pigmentation for the inner ones. The flowers typically grow out of the leaf axils in clusters, later forming grape clusters with berries, but can also be found solitary. The male flower has 5 stamens with filaments of different lengths. The flowers of S. chinensis are important for various pollinators such as bees, beetles and small moths.

The fruits of Schisandra chinensis are red berries which are smooth and shiny, have a spherical shape and reach 5-10 mm in diameter. They grow in dense hanging clusters of 2-5 berries which reach a length of about 6-8 cm. Each berry usually contains 1-2 brownish yellow kidney-shaped seeds. The seeds have the capacity to stay dormant and to form seed banks. Distribution of seeds mainly occurs through birds.