:''Decaisnea Lindl. is a synonym of Tropidia (plant), an orchid genus.'' ''Decaisnea'' Hook.f &Thomson, (猫儿屎属 mao er shi shu) known commonly as dead man's fingers, blue bean plant or blue sausage fruit, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Lardizabalaceae Lardizabalaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family has been universally recognized by taxonomists, including the APG II system (2003; unchanged from the APG system of 1998), which places it in the order Ranunculales, in the clade eudic ...

. It is native to eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, from China west to

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

and south to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The genus consists of one or two species, depending on taxonomic opinion. ''Decaisnea insignis'' (Griffith) Hook.f. & Thomson was described from Nepal, and is sometimes restricted to the plants occurring in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, with Chinese plants distinguished as '' Decaisnea fargesii'' Franchet. The only cited distinction between the plants from the two regions is the fruit colour, yellow-green in ''D. insignis'' and bluish in ''D. fargesii''.Bean, W. J. (1973). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles''. John Murray.Rushforth, K. D. ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. HarperCollins. This is of little significance and the two are now combined under the older name ''D. insignis'' by some authors.''Decaisnea''.
Flora of China. ''Decaisnea'' are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrubs or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to 5 to 8 meters tall with trunks up to 20 centimeters in diameter. The leaves are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

, 60 to 90 cm long, with up to 25 leaflets each up to 15 cm long and 10 cm broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are produced in drooping panicles 25 to 50 cm long. Each flower is 3 to 6 cm wide with greenish-yellow

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s and no petals. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a soft greenish-yellow to blue-black pod-like follicle up to 10 cm long and 3 cm diameter. It contains a transparent, glutinous, jelly-like pulp containing numerous (Usually around 40) flat black

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s about a centimeter wide. The pulp is edible however the seeds are not. The flavor of ''D. fargesii'' fruit pulp has been described as sweet and similar to

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...

, and the texture described as "gelatinous".Levine, K
Plant Profiles: ''Decaisnea fargesii''.
Talking Plants. National Public Radio, Washington, D.C. 2003. ''D. insignis'' fruit has been described as "bland" and jelly-like.Botany Photo of the Day: ''Decaisnea insignis''.
UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research.

Cultivation and uses

''Decaisnea'' is grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for its foliage and decorative fruit, bright blue in many cultivated specimens. Most plants in cultivation derive from Chinese seed and are commonly grown under the name ''D. fargesii''. The plants are successfully grown in cooler temperate climates, and in fertile, well-drained soil. They are tolerant of temperatures as low as . The fruit is valued for eating by the

Lepcha people The Lepcha (; also called Rongkup ( Lepcha: , ''Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup'', "beloved children of the Róng and of God") and Rongpa ( Sikkimese: )) are among the indigenous peoples of the Indian state of Sikkim and Nepal, and number around 80,0 ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

.''Decaisnea fargesii''.
Missouri Botanical Garden.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135174 Lardizabalaceae Ranunculales genera Flora of China Flora of Myanmar Flora of Nepal Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker Plants described in 1855