onom ical ▁nom en cl ature ▁in ▁the ▁botan ical ▁science ▁also ▁has ▁had ▁a ▁sin uous ▁history , ▁so ▁that ▁A can th op an ax ▁had ▁been ▁used ▁as ▁the ▁proper ▁genus ▁name ▁in ▁China ▁till ▁recent ▁years , ▁while ▁the ▁West ▁adopted ▁Ele uther oc oc cus ▁as ▁the ▁official ▁name . ▁ ▁Several ▁species ▁are ▁also ▁grown ▁as ▁orn amental ▁garden ▁shr ubs . ▁ ▁In ▁Japan , ▁they ▁have ▁been ▁plant ed ▁as ▁h ed ges . ▁Part icular ly ▁in ▁Yam ag ata ▁Pref ect ure , ▁a ▁da im y ō ▁named ▁U es ug i ▁Y ō zan ▁encourag ed ▁the ▁plant ing ▁of ▁the ▁uk og i ▁as ▁f encing ▁around ▁the ▁homes ▁of ▁sam ur ai ▁retain ers ▁( E . ▁sie bold ian us ▁was ▁plant ed ▁in ▁the ▁region ), ▁and ▁the ▁bitter ▁young ▁bud s , ▁leaves ▁and ▁st ems ▁have ▁tradition ally ▁been ▁picked ▁and ▁e aten ▁as ▁veget able ▁in ▁the ▁area . ▁However , ▁since ▁the ▁plant ▁is ▁decid uous , ▁it ▁requires ▁swe eping ▁in ▁the ▁fall ▁( high ▁maintenance ), ▁and ▁the ▁bare ▁h ed ges ▁fail ▁to ▁protect ▁the ▁home owner ' s ▁priv acy . ▁ ▁F oss il ▁record ▁The ▁four ▁earliest ▁foss il ▁species ▁of ▁Ele uther oc oc cus ▁are ▁from ▁the ▁Ma astr icht ian ▁( about ▁ 7 0 ▁Ma ) ▁flor as ▁of ▁E is leben ▁and ▁Wal beck , ▁Germany , ▁the ▁syn onym ▁A can