Angelica keiskei ("Ashitaba")

Japanese name: アシタバ （明日葉）
Scientific name: Angelica keiskei

[Overview]
A perennial growing by the sea.
The stem is 50–120 cm tall, thick, and branches well in the upper part.
The stem is hairless.
Yellow sap exudes when the stems or leaves are damaged.
The leaves are alternate, 1–2 times ternately pinnately compound; the leaflets are broadly ovate, further lobed, with serrated margins.
The leaves are rather thick, with a glossy, hairless surface.
The leaf stalk is swollen like a bag.
Large compound umbels at the stem tips bear many small pale yellow 5-petaled flowers.
The inflorescence has no involucral bracts but has several bractlets.
The fruit is a flattened oblong mericarp 6–12 mm long.

[History]
The Yamato Honzo (1709) records that on Hachijojima it was long regarded as an important vegetable.
Also, Kondo Tomizo, who was exiled to this island, described its cultivation and uses in detail in the Hachijo Jikki (1848–1860).

[Uses]
The stems and leaves are edible, but the flavor is distinctive.
The leaves are used medicinally.
It is also used as livestock feed.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers fertile, well-drained places in partial shade.
It is damaged by direct sunlight in midsummer, poorly ventilated places, and intense heat.
Plant out with about 30 cm between plants, and apply a small amount of organic fertilizer such as chicken manure or oil cake.
Water when the soil dries; in midsummer, water in the morning and evening when temperatures are lower.
Excess moisture causes root rot.
In the rainy season, care is needed, such as making ditches for drainage.
Let the plant build up strength in the first year, and harvest from the second year onward.
Once it flowers, it sets seed and dies, so harvest regularly to delay flowering.
It flowers, fruits and dies in the second to third year.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from its vigorous growth, such that "even if you pick the leaves, new shoots appear by tomorrow."

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