Golden ragwort - Golden ragwort

A perennial plant of the Rosaceae family (APG classification: Rosaceae). It grows 0.5-1.5 meters tall. It is hairy all over and has a thick rhizome. It has pinnate compound leaves and leaflets of various sizes. The terminal leaflet is diamond-shaped and oblong with a pointed tip. From July to September, it produces racemes at the end of the stem, and yellow, five-petaled flowers measuring 5-10 mm in diameter open one after another from the bottom to the top of the inflorescence. The fruit is an achene surrounded by a calyx tube, which has hook-shaped thorns about 3 mm long when in fruit form, which help disperse the fruit. The name comes from the plant's resemblance to a water lily and the golden color of its flowers. It commonly grows in the mountains and fields and on roadsides throughout Japan, and is also found in the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and China. The whole plant is used to treat diarrhea, etc. The closely related species, Agrimony, has small petals and leaves with 3 to 5 leaflets and grows in slightly shady areas. There are about 15 species in the Agrimony genus worldwide, and they are characterized by the thorns on their fruits.

[Naohiro Naruhashi December 13, 2019]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

バラ科（APG分類：バラ科）の多年草。高さ0.5～1.5メートル。全体に毛があり、根茎は太い。葉は羽状複葉、小葉は大小からなる。頂小葉は菱(ひし)状長楕円(ちょうだえん)形で先はとがる。7～9月、茎の先に総状花序をつけ、径5～10ミリメートルの黄色の5弁花を花序の下から上に次々に開く。果実は痩果(そうか)で萼筒(がくとう)に包まれ、萼筒は果実時に約3ミリメートルの鉤(かぎ)状の刺(とげ)があり、これにより果実の散布を行う。名は、植物体がミズヒキに似ており、花が黄金色であることによる。日本全土の山野、道端に普通に生え、千島、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）、朝鮮半島、中国にも分布。全草を下痢止めなどに用いる。花弁は小さく葉は3～5小葉からなる近縁種のヒメキンミズヒキは、やや日陰に生える。キンミズヒキ属は世界に約15種あり、果実にある刺が特徴。

［鳴橋直弘　2019年12月13日］

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