Inubiyu - Inubiyu

An annual plant of the Amaranthaceae family (APG classification: Amaranthaceae). The stem is 30 cm tall, reddish, well branched from the base, and glabrous. The leaves are alternate, long-stalked, diamond-shaped, ovate, with a pronounced concave tip, and 1-5 cm long. In summer and autumn, greenish flowers are clustered in the leaf axils, or borne in spikes 3-5 cm long at the ends of the branches. The bracts are ovate with pointed tips, membranous, and shorter than the perianth. The perianth has three spatula-shaped leaves, the sacs are longer than the perianth segments, slightly wrinkled, and do not dehisce, and the seeds are black, glossy, and lenticular. Widely distributed around the world, it was naturalized in Japan during the Edo period, where it grows in sunny places such as roadsides and fields, and has become a weed. Young leaves are edible.

[Junko Kobayashi January 21, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ヒユ科（APG分類：ヒユ科）の一年草。茎は高さ30センチメートルで紅色を帯び、基部からよく分枝し、無毛。葉は互生し長い柄があり、菱(ひし)状卵形で先端が著しくへこみ、長さ1～5センチメートル。夏秋のころ、緑色を帯びた花が葉腋(ようえき)に集まるか、または枝先に3～5センチメートルの穂をなしてつく。包葉は卵形で先端がとがり、膜質で花被(かひ)より短い。花被は3枚でへら形、胞果は花被片より長く、わずかにしわがあり、裂開せず、種子は黒色で光沢があり、レンズ状。世界中に広く分布し、日本へは江戸時代に帰化し、道端や畑など日当りのよい所に生え、雑草化している。若葉は食用となる。

［小林純子　2021年1月21日］

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