Japanese name: ハバヤマボクチ（葉場山火口） Scientific name:Synurus excelsus
[Overview]
A perennial 1–2 m tall, found in sunny grasslands in the mountains.
The stem is erect, with cobwebby hairs, tinged with purple, and branches in the upper part.
There are basal leaves and stem leaves, and the basal leaves have withered by flowering time.
The stem leaves are simple and alternate, heart-shaped to halberd-shaped, with white cottony hairs on the underside.
The leaves on the lower part of the stem are about 10–20 cm long, with petioles 10–23 cm long.
Flower heads 4–5 cm across are borne singly at the tips of short stalks.
The heads consist only of blackish purple tubular florets.
The involucre is spherical, 3 cm across.
The involucral bracts are hard, in 13–15 rows, and pointed.
The fruit is an achene 6 mm long with a brown pappus.
[Notes]
The Japanese name is said to derive from yamabokuchi growing on Habayama (meaning a mountain with a grass-cutting field).
