Zingiber mioga; myoga ginger

Japanese: ミョウガ(茗荷) - ミョウガ（英語表記）Zingiber mioga; myoga ginger

A perennial plant of the Zingiberaceae family. Native to tropical Asia and introduced to Japan from China, it is widely cultivated for food, and wild plants grow in the shade of trees in the mountains throughout Japan except Hokkaido. The underground stems spread horizontally and have scaly leaves. The pseudostem is annual and rises obliquely, with many leaves growing alternately in two rows at the top. The leaves are lanceolate or narrowly oblong, with short stalks at the base, and the leaf sheaths are long and overlap each other to form a pseudostem. From summer to autumn, inflorescences covered with scaly leaves appear at the tips of the underground stems, and pale yellow flowers bloom. The flowers wilt within a day. The bracts are narrowly ovate, and the inner ones are soft and have a unique fragrance, and are used as food and as a condiment along with the young shoots.

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

Japanese:

ショウガ科の多年草。熱帯アジア原産で日本には中国から伝えられ，食用として広く人家で栽培され，野生化したものが北海道を除く各地の山中の樹陰に生える。地下茎は横にはい，鱗片葉がある。偽茎は一年生で斜めに立上がり，多数の葉を上部に2列に互生する。葉は披針形ないし狭長楕円形で，基部には短柄があり，葉鞘は長くて互いに重なり偽茎となる。夏から秋に，地下茎の先端に鱗片葉におおわれた花序を出し，淡黄色の花をつける。花は1日でしぼむ。包葉は狭卵形で内部のものは軟らかく独特の香りがあり若芽とともに食用や薬味とする。

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