Seed flower - Seed flower

A biennial plant of the Brassicaceae family (APG classification: Brassicaceae). The stem is about 30 cm tall, branches at the top, and the lower part is usually dark purple and short-haired. The leaves are alternate and deeply pinnately lobed, with the lower leaves divided into 7-10 leaflets, the terminal leaflet being somewhat large. The lateral leaflets are narrowly oblong to obovate. From March to May, a raceme is formed at the top of the stem, and 10-20 small white flowers open. There are no bracts. The siliques are glabrous and about 2 cm long, and when ripe, they burst into two lobes. A weed commonly found in fields and roadsides, it is widely distributed throughout Japan and the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The name comes from the fact that the flowers open around the time when rice seeds are sown in the nursery bed.

The closely related Cardamine regeliana Miq. resembles the large Cardamine regeliana, but is a perennial plant with almost no hairs and the terminal leaflet is significantly larger than the lateral leaflets. It grows in the wetlands between the mountain valleys from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and is distributed in the Korean Peninsula, northeastern China, Siberia, and Kamchatka.

[Junko Kobayashi November 13, 2020]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アブラナ科（APG分類：アブラナ科）の二年草。茎は高さ約30センチメートル、上方で分枝し、下方は普通は暗紫色を帯びて短毛がある。葉は互生し、羽状に深裂し、下方の葉は7～10枚の小葉に分かれ、頂小葉はやや大形。側小葉は狭長楕円(だえん)形から倒卵形。3～5月、茎頂に総状花序をつくり、白色の小花を10～20個開く。包葉はない。長角果は無毛で長さ約2センチメートル、熟すとはじけて2裂する。田畑や道端に普通にみられる雑草で、日本全土、および北半球の温帯に広く分布する。名は、苗代に種籾(たねもみ)を播(ま)くころ花を開くことに由来する。

　近縁のオオバタネツケバナC. regeliana Miq.はタネツケバナの大形のものに似るが、多年草で毛はほとんどなく、頂小葉は側小葉より著しく大きい。北海道から九州の山地の谷間の湿地に生え、朝鮮半島、中国東北部、シベリア、カムチャツカに分布する。

［小林純子　2020年11月13日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例