Origin: Japan, Korea, China
Genus: Aralia
Species: elata
Common Name: Japanese Angelica Tree
Synonyms : Aralia chinensis
Family : Araliaceae
Situation: Full sun to part shade, any well-drained soil
Eventual height: 12m
Eventual spread: 8m
Hardiness: Fully hardy
Aralia elata, commonly called Chinese angelica-tree, Japanese angelica-tree, and Korean angelica-tree, is a woody plant belonging to the family Araliaceae. It is known as tara-no-ki (タラノキ; 楤木) in Japanese, and dureup-namu (두릅나무) in Korean.
It is an upright deciduous small tree or shrub growing up to 10 m (33 ft) in height, native to eastern Russia, China, Korea, and Japan.
It prefers deep loamy soils in partial shade, but will grow in poorer soils and in full sun. The plant is sometimes cultivated, often in a variegated form, for its exotic appearance.
The bark is rough and gray with prickles. The leaves are alternate, large, 60–120 cm long, and double pinnate. The flowers are produced in large umbels in late summer, each flower small and white. The fruit is a small black drupe.
Aralia elata is closely related to the American species Aralia spinosa, with which it is easily confused.
In Japan, the shoots are called tara-no-me and are eaten in the spring. They are picked from the end of the branches and are fried in a tempura batter.
In Korean, the young shoot is called dureup (두릅), and the plant is called dureupnamu (두릅나무, "dureup tree"). Young shoots are harvested during a month, from early April to early May, when they are soft and fragrant. In Korean cuisine, the shoots are commonly eaten blanched as namul, pickled as jangajji, pan-fried as jeon, or deep-fried as bugak.