Yamaai - Yamaai

Japanese: ヤマアイ - やまあい

An evergreen perennial plant of the Euphorbiaceae family that grows in clusters in the shade of trees in the subtropics to warm temperate zones (illustration). It is distributed from Honshu to Okinawa, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Indochina. Its northern limit on the Pacific coast is the Kanto region, but on the Japan Sea coast it reaches as far north as Aomori Prefecture. It reproduces vegetatively by creeping long white underground stems. The stems are upright and 30-50cm tall. The leaves are opposite, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-elliptical, serrated, and the leaf blade is about 10cm long. They are dark green, thin, and coarsely hairy. Dioecious. From March to May, they produce spikes in the leaf axils, with small green unisexual flowers clustered together in groups of several.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

亜熱帯～暖温帯の木陰に群生するトウダイグサ科の常緑多年草（イラスト）。本州～沖縄，中国，朝鮮，台湾，インドシナに分布する。太平洋側の北限は関東地方だが，日本海側では青森県まで北上する。白い地下茎が長くはい，栄養繁殖を行う。茎は直立し，高さ30～50cm。葉は対生し，長楕円披針形～卵状楕円形で，鋸歯があり，葉身は長さ10cm内外。濃緑色を呈し，質は薄く，粗毛がある。雌雄異株。3～5月ころ，葉腋（ようえき）に穂状花序をつけ，緑色の小さな単性花が数個ずつ集まってつく。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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