Japanese name: シャク（杓） Scientific name:Anthriscus sylvestris subsp. sylvestris
[Overview]
A perennial 0.8–1.4 m tall, found in damp places in the mountains.
The stem is erect and branches in the upper part.
The leaves are alternate, 2-times ternately pinnately compound, and the leaflets are finely divided.
The leaves are soft in texture.
The leaves have leaf stalks.
Compound umbels at the stem tip have no involucral bracts but bear several bractlets.
The bractlets are ovate to lanceolate and point downward after flowering.
The flowers are numerous and white with 5 petals; in the flowers at the edge of the inflorescence, the 2 outer petals are larger than the others.
The fruit is a mericarp, smooth, ripening to black.
[Uses]
The root is used medicinally.
The young leaves have a fragrance similar to seri (Japanese parsley) and are used as a wild vegetable.
