Japanese name: カリヤス（刈安） Scientific name:Miscanthus tinctorius
[Overview]
A perennial 0.8–1 m tall, found in sunny places in the mountains.
It has a short rhizome and forms clumps.
The nodes of the stem are densely covered with short hairs.
The leaves are alternate, broadly linear, about 8–20 cm long and 0.6–1.2 cm wide, and those on the upper part are narrowly lanceolate.
The leaves are usually hairless on both sides except at the base.
At the stem tip it produces a flower spike made up of 3–10 racemes, each about 7–12 cm long.
On each raceme, long-stalked spikelets and short-stalked spikelets grow in pairs.
The spikelets are pointed, and the awn is either absent or, if present, 3 mm or less in length and does not project beyond the spikelet.
[Uses]
It is cultivated as a source of yellow dye and is also used medicinally.
