Water hyacinth - Kuroguwai

Japanese: クログワイ - くろぐわい

It is a perennial plant of the Cyperaceae family that grows in marshes, but is a separate family from the culinary arrowhead of the Altaceae family (illustration). It has a long rhizome that grows in the muddy soil at the bottom of the water, and at its tip it produces an oblate-ovate tuber about 6 to 10 mm in diameter. The stem grows upright from the rhizome, is cylindrical, about 80 to 100 cm tall and 3 mm wide, and is dark green in color. It is hollow inside and divided into numerous diaphragms, and when pressed with your fingers it makes a popping sound when crushed. The spikelets that appear from July to September are cylindrical, about 4 cm long, and come in single pieces at the tip of the stem, with no leaf-like bracts and numerous light brown scales.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

沼沢地に生えるカヤツリグサ科の多年草で，オモダカ科の料理用のクワイとは科を別にする植物である（イラスト）。水底の泥土中に長くはった根茎があり，その先端に直径6～10mmくらいの扁卵形の塊茎を作る。茎は根茎から出て，直立し，高さは80～100cm，幅3mmくらいの円筒形で，濃い緑色をしている。中は中空で，多数の横隔膜に仕切られ，指でおすとプチプチという音を立ててつぶれる。7～9月に出る小穂は円柱形で，長さ4cmくらい，茎の先端に1個つき，葉状苞はなく，淡褐色の鱗片が多数ある。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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