Japanese name: クチナシグサ（梔子草） Scientific name:Monochasma sheareri
[Overview]
A biennial found in dry regions with annual precipitation of 1,800 mm or less, growing in deciduous forests.
It is a hemiparasitic plant.
The stem is 15–60 cm long, creeps along the ground, and branches freely from the base.
The stem is sparsely hairy.
Leaves are simple and opposite; on the upper stem they are linear, 2–3 cm long and 0.2–0.3 cm wide.
The leaves on the lower stem are scale-like.
Flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils of the upper stem; they are pale reddish purple, two-lipped, and about 1 cm long.
The corolla is 2-lobed, with a yellow marking at the base of the lower lip.
The calyx is tubular and deeply 4-lobed, with linear lobes.
Two bracts resembling the calyx lobes in shape are attached at the base of the calyx.
The fruit is a capsule, enclosed by the enlarged calyx.
[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from the fruit's resemblance to the fruit of Kuchinashi.
