Kusagi - Kusagi

A deciduous shrub or small tree of the Verbenaceae family (APG classification: Lamiaceae). The leaves are opposite, long-stalked, triangular-ovate, 7-16 cm long, sharply pointed at the tip, almost entire at the edge, and covered with soft hairs on the underside. The leaves and flowers have a strong odor, hence the name Kusagi. From July to September, white flowers bloom in cymes at the ends of the branches. The calyx is deeply divided into five parts and is condensed, but when it bears fruit it opens flat and turns crimson red. The corolla is divided into five parts and is tubular at the base, with four stamens and styles protruding from the outside of the flower. The fruit is spherical and ripens blue in September to October. It commonly grows in the mountains and fields, and is distributed from southern Hokkaido to Okinawa Prefecture, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, China, etc. A variety of Amakusagi is almost completely hairless and distributed in the Izu Islands, southern Kyushu, and Okinawa. The young leaves are edible, and the fruit is used for plant dyeing. In China, it is called Haizhou Changshan, and its leaves are used for high blood pressure, neuralgia, headaches, etc. The Clerodactyla genus has about 400 species, mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

[Yoshio Kobayashi August 20, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

クマツヅラ科（APG分類：シソ科）の落葉低木ないし小高木。葉は対生し、長い柄があり、三角状卵形、長さ7～16センチメートル、先は鋭くとがり、縁(へり)はほとんど全縁で、裏面に軟毛がある。葉や花に強い臭気があるのでクサギという。7～9月、枝先の集散花序に白花を開く。萼(がく)は5深裂し、つぼまっているが、結果時には平開して紅赤色になる。花冠は5裂し、基部は細長い筒になり、4本の雄しべと花柱が花外に突き出ている。果実は球形で9～10月に青色に熟す。山野に普通に生え、北海道南部から沖縄県、朝鮮半島、台湾、中国などに分布する。変種のアマクサギは全体がほぼ無毛で伊豆諸島、九州南部、沖縄に分布。若葉は食用になり、果実を草木染めに用いる。中国では海州常山(かいしゅうじょうざん)とよび、葉を高血圧、神経痛、頭痛などに用いる。クサギ属は世界の熱帯、亜熱帯を中心に約400種ある。

［小林義雄　2021年8月20日］

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