Kusasukikazura - Kusasukikazura

Japanese: クサスギカズラ - くさすぎかずら

A perennial plant of the lily family (APG classification: Asparagaceae). It has a short rhizome with many thickened roots. The stem is thin, 1-2 meters tall, and somewhat creeping. The leaves degenerate into membranous scales, from whose sides emerge linear, shiny, green, 1-2 cm long leaflets. The flowers are pale yellow-green and about 6 mm across, borne at the ends of short, jointed stalks. The roots were once candied and eaten. It grows on the coasts of Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa, Chugoku, Vietnam, and other areas.

[Akira Kono March 20, 2019]

Medicinal

The spindle-shaped swollen parts at the ends of the numerous adventitious roots, measuring 4 to 15 centimeters in length, are collected, washed with water, soaked in boiling water, the skin removed, and the resulting product is fumigated with sulfur and dried. This is called Tianmendou and is used in Chinese medicine as a cough suppressant, emollient, and tonic.

[Motoo Nagasawa March 20, 2019]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ユリ科（APG分類：キジカクシ科）の多年草。根茎は短く、多数の肥厚した根をつける。茎は細く、高さ1～2メートルで、ややつる状となる。葉は退化して膜質の鱗片(りんぺん)となり、そのわきから長さ1～2センチメートル、緑色で光沢のある線形の葉状枝を出す。花は関節のある短い花柄の先につき、淡黄緑色、径約6ミリメートル。根はかつて砂糖漬けにして食用とされた。本州、四国、九州、沖縄、中国、ベトナムなどの海岸に生育する。

［河野昭一　2019年3月20日］