Lamium amplexicaule - Lamium amplexicaule

A biennial plant of the Lamiaceae family (APG classification: Lamiaceae). The stem branches at the bottom and rises, reaching a height of 10 to 30 centimeters. The leaves grow opposite each other, and the ones at the bottom of the stem have petioles, but not at the top. They are semicircular with shallow sawtooth notches on the edges, and the stems are held together in a circle. The name is derived from the likening of the leaves to a Buddhist throne. The leaves are also called Sangaigusa (three-tiered grass) because they are in several tiers. In spring, they produce tubular, lip-shaped, 1.7 to 2 centimeter long, reddish-purple flowers in the leaf axils, but most of them are closed flowers, and many of them remain in buds and bear fruit without opening. They grow in fields and roadsides, and are widely distributed in Eurasia and northern Africa, and have become naturalized in North America. It is said that the Lamium amplexicaule, one of the seven herbs of spring, is not this species, but a species of the Asteraceae family called Lamium amplexicaule. However, the hanging scroll depicting the seven herbs of spring that remains in the Reizei family home in Kyoto depicts plantain, and there is another theory.

[Gen Murata September 17, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

シソ科（APG分類：シソ科）の越年草。茎は下部で分枝して立ち上がり、高さ10～30センチメートル。葉は対生し、茎の下部のものは葉柄があるが、上部ではなく、半円形で縁(へり)に浅い鋸歯(きょし)状の切れ込みがあり、相対して茎を車座に抱く。名は、この葉の状態を仏座に例えたもの。また、葉が数段になるのでサンガイグサ（三階草）の名もある。春、葉腋(ようえき)に筒状唇形で長さ1.7～2センチメートルの紅紫色花をつけるが、多くは閉鎖花となって、つぼみの状態のままで開かないで結実するものが多い。畑や道端に生え、ユーラシア大陸、アフリカ北部に広く分布し、北アメリカに帰化する。なお、春の七草のうちのホトケノザは本種ではなく、キク科のコオニタビラコだといわれる。ところが、京都冷泉(れいぜい)家に残る、春の七草を書いた掛軸にあるのはオオバコであり、異説もある。

［村田　源　2021年9月17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