Heavenly Pillar Sacred Fruit

Heavenly Pillar Sacred Fruit

　　Heavenly Pillar Sacred Fruit (Sargentodoxa cuneata), originally found in the primeval forests of the Heavenly Pillar region, is a woody evergreen vine plant. Its fruit is an aggregate fruit, shaped like a soccer ball, textured and smooth. The young fruits are dark green, turning deep red upon maturity — strikingly beautiful, uniquely charming, juicy, delicious, richly sweet and aromatic, excelling in color, aroma, and taste. Each fruit weighs between 0.5–0.8 kilograms, with larger ones reaching up to 1.2 kilograms. The fruits ripen in November and can be left on the trellis until around the Spring Festival for sale. They can also be harvested and stored indoors naturally before being released to the market in February or March of the following year. Cuttings planted in spring will bear fruit in their second year, with peak production reached by the fourth year. At a planting density of 120 plants per mu, each plant can produce 30–50 fruits, yielding over 3,000 kilograms per mu during peak production. Within one year of planting, the main vines of Sargentodoxa can grow up to 3 meters long, and by the third year, up to 20 meters. Planting requires a trellis, but it is also suitable for intercropping under orchards, economic forests, or other tree groves — utilizing the branches of fruit trees as natural trellises without affecting fruit yield. It can also be cultivated on garden pergolas or as a dwarfed potted ornamental fruit plant. According to Miao medicine practitioners, regularly consuming Sargentodoxa fruits has benefits such as dispelling wind and activating collaterals, regulating qi and relieving pain, clearing the liver and improving vision, nourishing kidney and consolidating essence, enriching blood and beautifying the complexion. Currently, our county has a sacred fruit cultivation area of 120 mu, with an annual output of 250,000 kilograms and a price of 20 yuan per kilogram. The market outlook is broad, and all merchants are welcome to come and develop.