Japanese name: ナギナタコウジュ（薙刀香需） Scientific name:Elsholtzia ciliata
[Overview]
An annual 15–60 cm tall, found along mountain roadsides and similar places.
The whole plant is fragrant.
The stem is erect and branched, square in cross section, and covered with soft hairs.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate, 3–9 cm long and 1–5 cm wide, with dense glandular dots on the underside.
The leaf margin is toothed.
There is a petiole.
A flower spike 1.5–6 cm long is produced at the stem tip, with the flowers borne on one side, and flattened round bracts overlapping densely.
The bracts are widest at the middle, and the margins bear short hairs.
The flower spike is curved.
The flowers are pale reddish purple, with hairs on the outside of the corolla.
The stamens project out of the flower.
The fruit is a schizocarp.
[Uses]
The whole plant is used medicinally and as a bath additive.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained place.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
If basal fertilizer is applied, no further fertilizing is particularly necessary.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
