Japanese name: シコクママコナ（四国飯子菜） Scientific name:Melampyrum laxum var. laxum
[Overview]
An annual 20–50 cm tall, found at forest edges and in grasslands in the mountains.
It is a hemiparasitic plant.
The stem is erect.
Leaves are simple and opposite, narrowly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 2.5–6 cm long and 0.6–2 cm wide, pointed at the tip, and sparsely hairy on both sides.
The leaf margins are entire.
The petiole is 0.5–1 cm long.
Flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils of the upper stem, or sparsely on a spike 4–5 cm long at the stem tip.
The flowers are reddish purple, two-lipped, and up to 2 cm long; the lower lip is shallowly 3-lobed with 2 white to yellow ridges, and there are yellow spots on both sides of the throat.
The bracts are ovate to lanceolate with blunt tips, and the margins sparsely bear bristle-like teeth.
The fruit is an ovoid capsule, with its base enclosed by the calyx.
