Butterbur (English spelling) Petasites japonicus; butterbur

Japanese: フキ(蕗) - フキ（英語表記）Petasites japonicus; butterbur

A perennial herb of the Asteraceae family. It is distributed in the temperate zone of eastern Asia. It grows in mountainous areas and roadsides in warm areas of Japan. It produces leaves at the end of a long, horizontally extending underground stem. The leaves have long, thick, fleshy petioles, and the leaf blades are large, kidney-shaped, and covered with grayish-white fluff. In early spring, it produces flower stalks with many scaly bracts, and the flower heads grow in a corymb at the end. It is dioecious, and the flower stalk of the female plant grows to more than 30 cm after flowering. The flower heads of the male plant are yellowish-white, while the flower heads of the female plant are white, and both have pappus. The fruit is a small achene. It has been a wild vegetable since ancient times, and is also cultivated. The young flower stalks and petioles are edible, and the flower stalks in particular are called "buki-no-tou" and are used as a cough suppressant. P. japonicus var. giganteus , which grows in Hokkaido and Tohoku, is large, and the petiole can reach 2 m in length. Cultivated for food.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

キク科の多年草。アジア東部の温帯に分布する。日本各地の暖地の山地や路傍に生える。横に長く伸びる地下茎の先に葉を出す。葉は長く太い多肉質の葉柄をもち，葉身は大型の腎円形で灰白色の綿毛をかぶる。早春に，多数の鱗状の包葉をつけた花茎を出し，先端に散房状に頭花をつける。雌雄異株で，雌株では花後に花茎が伸び 30cm以上になる。雄株の頭花は黄白色，雌株の頭花は白色で，ともに冠毛をもつ。果実は小型の痩果。古くから山菜とし，また栽培もされる。食用とされるのは若い花茎と葉柄で，花茎は特に「ふきのとう」ともいわれ，鎮咳剤ともされる。北海道と東北に生じるアキタブキ P. japonicus var. giganteusは大型で，葉柄の長さは 2mにも達する。食用に栽培する。

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