Plant Encyclopedia
Persicaria chinensis (creeping smartweed, "Tsurusoba")
Japanese name: ツルソバ （蔓蕎麦）
Scientific name: Persicaria chinensis
[Overview]
A perennial found at woodland edges near the coast.
The stem branches and is vining or erect, reaching about 2 m long.
The leaves are simple and alternate, ovate to ovate-oblong, 5–10 cm long and 3–6 cm wide.
The leaf margin is entire.
The ocrea is membranous and cut obliquely.
It flowers all year round.
A raceme shaped like a konpeito (a small spiky sugar candy) is produced at the stem tip.
There is no corolla; the conspicuous calyx is milky white to pale pink.
The fruit is an achene, enclosed in the enlarged, black, juicy calyx.
[Uses]
It is used medicinally.
Details
Names
English: creeping smartweed, Chinese knotweed
Japanese: ツルソバ（蔓蕎麦）
Japanese: ツルソバ（蔓蕎麦）
Life form
Perennial
Habit
Terrestrial
Distribution or origin
Japan (Honshu: Pacific side from southern Boshu Peninsula westward, Yamaguchi, Izu Seven Islands, Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu), Jeju Island, China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia to South Asia
Leaf shape
Simple leaf (unlobed)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf margin
Entire
Inflorescence
Raceme
Flower color
Pink, White
Fruit color
Other
Leaf color
Green
Uses
Medicinal
Japan Flower Trade Code
77513
Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.