Botanical atlas

Chocolate Vine

Akebia quinata

Chocolate vine has long been welcomed into East Asian gardens more for its beauty and generosity than for medicine. In Japan, children have gathered its pale purple, sausage-shaped pods for generations, splitting them open to eat the sweet, translucent pulp inside, seeds and all, much like a wild candy of the woods. In traditional Chinese medicine, the dried stem was known as Mu Tong and was steeped into decoctions thought to promote urination and clear heat from the body. The young leaves have also been dried for a light, mild tea in folk practice. Because the fruit rarely sets in cultivation without a compatible pollinator nearby, a ripe pod has always felt a bit like a small woodland reward.

Safety.

Chocolate Vine's fruit pulp and young leaves are safe in the traditional, modest amounts described here. Dried Akebia stem, sold in herbal markets as Mu Tong, has historically been mixed up with a toxic Aristolochia vine that caused serious kidney damage, so stem preparations should only come from a tested, reputable source if used at all. Because of its diuretic effects, avoid concentrated preparations if you have kidney issues, take diuretics, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.