Phtheirospermum japonicum (Thunb.) Kanitz

Japanese: コシオガマ（英語表記）Phtheirospermum japonicum (Thunb.) Kanitz

A semi-parasitic annual plant of the Scrophulariaceae family that grows in sunny grasslands (illustration). Its Japanese name is derived from its small flowers, which resemble those of Shiogamagiku. The stem is erect and covered with soft hairs, reaching a height of 20-70 cm. The leaves are opposite, triangular-oval, and deeply pinnately lobed. From September to October, one pale purple, lip-shaped flower appears on each side of the upper branch leaves. The calyx is bell-shaped with five lobes and glandular hairs. The corolla is 2 cm long, thick and tubular, lobed into two lips, with the upper lip recurved in two lobes and the lower lip lobed in three. The capsule is distorted and oval, pointed at the tip, and enclosed in the calyx until it is halfway up.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

日当りのよい草地に生えるゴマノハグサ科の半寄生の一年草（イラスト）。和名はシオガマギクに似て，花が小さいのでいう。茎は直立して全体に軟毛が生え，高さ20～70cm。葉は対生し，三角状卵形で羽状に深く裂ける。9～10月，上部の枝の葉のわきごとに，淡紅紫色の唇形の花を1個つける。萼は鐘形で5裂し，腺毛がある。花冠は長さ2cm，太い筒形で2唇に裂け，上唇は2裂して反り返り，下唇は3裂する。蒴果（さくか）はゆがんだ卵形で，先がとがり，半ばまで萼に包まれる。

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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