Japanese name: コセリバオウレン（小芹葉黄連） Scientific name:Coptis japonica var. japonica
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 15–30 cm tall, found in slightly moist places in deciduous forests in the mountains.
The rhizome is thick and extends long.
The leaves are basal, 3-ternately compound, thick, and glossy on the upper surface.
The leaflets are ovate, 1–2.5 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, with coarsely notched margins or shallowly pinnately lobed.
The leaves have long petioles.
The upper part of the flower stalk bears 3–4 flowers in a raceme.
The flower stalk is tinged with purplish brown.
There are male flowers and bisexual flowers, both 1–1.8 cm across and white, with several sepals and petals radiating outward.
The sepals are larger than the petals and conspicuous, resembling petals.
The male flowers have many stamens.
The fruit is a follicle, arranged in a ring.
[Uses]
The rhizome has long been used medicinally.
