Japanese name: キクノハアオイ（菊葉葵） Scientific name:Modiola caroliniana
[Overview]
Originally a perennial, but it becomes an annual in cold regions.
The whole plant bears stellate or simple hairs.
The stem creeps along the ground at the base, rooting at the nodes, and the upper part often rises obliquely.
The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate, palmately divided into 3–7 lobes, and doubly serrate.
They have long petioles.
Solitary vermilion-red 5-petaled flowers about 1 cm across grow in the leaf axils.
The petals are ovate-orbicular and darker at the base.
The staminal column is red and short.
The calyx is 5-lobed, with ovate lobes that are pointed at the tip.
There are 3 linear bracteoles.
The fruit consists of flat mericarps with 2 projections and stiff bristles, 16–22 of them arranged radially.
Each mericarp is divided into 2 chambers, each containing 1 seed.
The seeds are flat, kidney-shaped, about 1.5 mm across, and reddish brown.
[History]
It was collected in 1913 by Hisauchi Kiyotaka at a racehorse stable in Yokohama, and the Japanese name was given by Hiyama Kozo.
It is found in warm regions from Honshu to the Ryukyu Islands, but its habitats are said to be impermanent.
[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the way the leaves are divided to the leaves of the chrysanthemum.
