Mainspring - Mainspring

Japanese: ゼンマイ - ぜんまい

A summer-green fern of the Osmundae family. Its leaves grow in bundles from a thick, tuberous rhizome. There are two types of leaves: sporophylls, which appear in early spring, and vegetative leaves, which appear later. The vegetative leaves are pale green, and the leaf blade is papery, triangular, broadly ovate, twice pinnate, 60-100 cm long, 40-60 cm wide. The pinnae (terminal lobes) are broadly lanceolate, 5-10 cm long, blunt at the tip, and sessile at the base. The sporophylls have shrunken leaf blades, degenerated mesophyll, and linear pinnae. They are densely packed with sporangia, and fall off after releasing spores. Osmunda grows in the mountains and fields of various regions, and the young shoots, which have not yet opened, are picked and eaten because their petioles contain a large amount of protein and carbohydrates. They can also be stored by steaming and drying them, or by salting them. The roots are called fern roots, and are used as a substitute for the trunk of a tree staghorn fern when cultivating epiphytes.

The species that grow in colonies in the bright grasslands of the beech zone are O. cinnamomea var. fokiensis and O. claytoniana . Both have tufts of oblong, unipinnate compound leaves, but the former has two types of leaves: sporophylls and vegetative leaves, while the latter has several pairs of pinnae in the middle of the leaf that shrink to become sporophylls. Both are edible.

[Makoto Nishida]

Food

Sometimes they are used raw, but in most cases they are first dried before use. Dried products need to be rehydrated in water, but many commercially available products are rehydrated. Those dried raw are called "Aoboshi" and those boiled and then dried are called "Akaboshi". They contain a lot of dietary fiber. To prepare them, cut the rehydrated ones into bite-sized pieces, fry them in oil, cover them with broth, bring to a boil, then add sake, mirin, sugar, etc. and simmer. When they are sufficiently soft, soy sauce is added to finish. As fried tofu goes well with the flavor, thinly sliced pieces are usually added.

[Tomomi Kono]

Mainspring
©Shogakukan ">

Mainspring

Young shoots of fern
It is commonly found in the mountains and fields of various regions. There are spore leaves and vegetative leaves, both of which are covered with light brown hairs. The young vegetative leaves are edible. ©Shogakukan Photo by Masatoshi Hirose ">

Young shoots of fern

Young shoots of Onimusui
It grows in clusters in the bright grasslands of the beech zone. When it grows, it produces tufts of oblong, unipinnate compound leaves. ©Shogakukan Photo by Masatoshi Hirose ">

Young shoots of Onimusui

Main types of ferns (2) [specimen illustrations]
©Junzo Fujishima ">

Main types of ferns (2) [specimen illustrations]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ゼンマイ科の夏緑性シダ。太い塊状の根茎から、葉を束生する。葉には早春に出る胞子葉と、遅れて出る栄養葉の2型がある。栄養葉は淡緑色、葉身は洋紙質の三角状広卵形で2回羽状に分裂し、長さ60～100センチメートル、幅40～60センチメートル。小羽片（終裂片）は広披針(こうひしん)形で、長さ5～10センチメートル。先はとがらず、基部は無柄。胞子葉は葉身が縮み、葉肉が退化して、小羽片は線形である。胞子嚢(のう)を密生し、胞子を放出したあとに枯落する。ゼンマイは各地の山野に生えるが、まだ葉の開かない若芽は、葉柄にタンパク質や炭水化物を多量に含むため、摘み取って食用にする。蒸してから乾燥させたり、塩漬けにすると蓄えることもできる。根はゼンマイ根(こん)といい、着生植物栽培の際、ヘゴの樹幹の代用にする。

　ブナ帯の明るい草原に群生するものにヤマドリゼンマイO. cinnamomea var. fokiensisとオニゼンマイO. claytonianaがある。ともに長楕円(ちょうだえん)形の1回羽状複葉を束生するが、前者は葉に胞子葉と栄養葉の2型があり、後者は葉の中部の数対の羽片が縮んで胞子羽片となる。いずれも食用となる。

［西田　誠］

食品

なまのものを使用することもあるが、多くはいったん干してから使用する。乾燥品は水でもどすことが必要であるが、市販品はもどしたものが多い。なまのまま干したものを「あお干し」、ゆでてから干したものを「あか干し」という。食物繊維が多く含まれている。調理法としては、もどしたものを適当な大きさに切り、油で炒(いた)め、ひたひたにだし汁を加え、煮立ってから酒、あるいはみりん、砂糖などを加えて煮込む。十分柔らかくなったところでしょうゆを加え、仕上げる。なお、油揚げがよく味にあうので、通常、細く切ったものを加えることが多い。

［河野友美］

ゼンマイ

ゼンマイの若芽

オニゼンマイの若芽

シダ植物のおもな種類(2)〔標本画〕

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