Detailed Explanation of Key Points for High-Yield Cultivation Techniques of Euodia rutaecarpa

Euodia rutaecarpa, also known as Wu Yu, Wu Yu, Mi La Zi, Cha La, Chou Bao Zi, etc. It is a deciduous small tree or shrub of the Rutaceae family. The fruit is used as medicine and has the effects of warming the middle and dispelling cold, drying dampness, soothing the liver, stopping vomiting, and relieving pain. It mainly treats cold pain in the stomach cavity, nausea and vomiting, acid regurgitation and belching, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, hypochondriac pain, hernia pain, athlete's foot pain, pinworm pain, and other conditions. For external use, it treats eczema, oral conditions, and hypertension. It is mainly produced in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, Anhui, Guangxi, and other provinces and regions.

Morphological Characteristics

1. Euodia rutaecarpa is a perennial shrub or small tree, 3-10 m tall. Leaves are opposite, odd-pinnately compound, with 5-9 leaflets, elliptical to ovate, entire or with inconspicuous obtuse serrations, both surfaces covered with pale yellow-brown long soft hairs, especially dense on the veins, with obvious oil dots. Flowers are very small, yellow-white, unisexual, dioecious, arranged in terminal cymose panicles; the flower axis is stout, densely covered with yellow-brown long soft hairs, and at the base of the flower axis there are 2 small leaf-like opposite bracts; calyx segments 5, broadly ovate; petals 5; male flowers have 5 stamens; the rudimentary ovary is 4-5-lobed at the apex; the petals of female flowers are larger than those of male flowers, the ovary is superior, oblong, carpels usually 5, after flowering broadening into a flattened round shape, with large oil gland dots, style short and stout, stigma 4-5 shallowly lobed at the apex. The capsule is flattened spherical, splitting open when mature into 5 valves, fruit-like, purplish red, with large oil dots on the surface, each mericarp has 1 seed, black, glossy.

2. Shi Hu is very similar to the typical species. However, it has a special pungent odor. Leaflets 3-11, blades relatively narrow, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, apex gradually elongated or acuminate, leaflets more widely spaced from each other, lateral veins relatively obvious, entire, both surfaces densely covered with soft hairs, densest on the veins, oil glands large. The inflorescence axis is often covered with pale yellow or colorless long soft hairs. The mature infructescence is less dense than that of the typical species. Seeds are bluish black.

I. Growth Habits Euodia rutaecarpa prefers warm and humid environments with ample sunlight. It has no strict requirements for soil, but loose, fertile sandy soil or oil sandy soil rich in organic matter is best. Heavy clay, saline-alkali land, and low-lying land are not suitable for planting.

II. Land Preparation and Fertilization Select a field with high terrain and good drainage, and cultivate it intensively and carefully. In combination with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer: apply 3000 kg of farmyard manure, 20 kg of urea, and 50 kg of phosphate and potassium fertilizer per mu. Then make raised beds 1.5 m wide and wait for sowing.

III. Sowing Euodia rutaecarpa is mainly propagated by cutting seedlings and transplanting, and can also be propagated by root division and tiller division. The sowing period is spring sowing. Seedling raising: Select annual branches that are full, robust, and free from pests and diseases, cut them into 20-25 cm cuttings, each with 3-4 young buds. Cut the lower end into an ear-shaped slant. Then, soak the slant in 500 ppm ABT rooting powder solution for 10 seconds. After slightly drying, insert them into the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 10 x 5 cm. Insert two-thirds into the soil. Water to preserve moisture and promote survival. Strengthen field management, and after one year of cultivation, they can be transplanted. Transplanting: Plant the one-year-old Euodia rutaecarpa seedlings on the prepared bed surface at a row spacing of 3 x 2 m, requiring 111 seedlings per mu. Root division propagation: Select mother plants over 4 years old, dig away the soil around the roots, and cut wounds on the thicker lateral roots with a knife every 7-9 cm. After 1-2 months, root seedlings will sprout from the wounds. After one year of cultivation, they can be transplanted.

IV. Field Management After Euodia rutaecarpa emerges, attention should be paid to field management. Water during dry weather and drain promptly during rainy weather. Each winter, apply a layer of farmyard manure. In order to achieve stable and high yields of Euodia rutaecarpa, pruning must also be carried out. Prune the tree shape into a natural open-center high-yield tree shape with a round exterior and hollow interior, an open canopy, good ventilation and light transmission, and a short trunk and low crown.

V. Pest and Disease Control For rust disease, spray 97% dinocap 300-fold solution or 25% triadimefon 1500-fold solution at the early stage of onset. For sooty mold, use 50% carbendazim for control. For citrus swallowtail butterfly, use fenvalerate pesticide for control.

VI. Harvesting and Processing Euodia rutaecarpa generally blooms and bears fruit 2-3 years after planting, and the fruit is picked after turning from green to yellow in autumn. The picked fruit can be sun-dried or oven-dried and then sold as medicine.