Persicaria neofiliformis ("Shinmizuhiki")

Japanese name: シンミズヒキ （新水引）
Scientific name: Persicaria neofiliformis

[Overview]
A perennial 30–80 cm tall, found in forests in the mountains.
It has a rhizome.
The stem is erect, hollow, and branches only at the very top.
The leaves are simple and alternate, clustered on the upper part of the stem; they are oblong to ovate-elliptic, with a sharply pointed, tail-like tip, and entire margins.
Both leaf surfaces are nearly hairless, and the upper surface is slightly glossy.
Some plants occasionally have hairs 0.2–0.3 mm long, and it is said that among those distributed on the Chinese mainland there is also a type with longer hairs.
Long, cord-like racemes emerge from the stem tips and leaf axils, bearing sparse flowers.
There is no corolla; the conspicuous calyx is red in the upper half and white in the lower half.
The fruit is an achene 3–3.5 mm long, and the persistent style with its hooked tip allows it to be carried by animals and clothing.

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