There are good seed crops most years, and seeds are dispersed by birds and other animals that eat the fruit. Plants are able to reproduce by 3 to 5 years of age. Seeds have a hard seed coat and dormant embryos that delay germination, but heat treatment or sulfuric acid scarification and stratification can hasten germination. Without treatment, germination of seedlings may be delayed for 2 or more years after planting. Regenerates vegetatively from sprouts, rhizome suckers, and layering.
Living stems growing from the rhizome suppress rhizome bud growth.
Seedlings form a thickened crown with buds which can become a rhizome by the third year. By seed, following cold stratification. Can be propagated by cuttings, either using hardwood cuttings started in the winter or softwood cuttings during the spring or summer. Cuttings of rhizomes with stems can also be transplanted. Its growth on moderate and gentle slopes is good, and its growth on steep slopes is fair.