Gynostemma pentaphyllum var. pentaphyllum("Amachazuru")
Japanese name: アマチャヅル（甘茶蔓） Scientific name:Gynostemma pentaphyllum var. pentaphyllum
[Overview]
A climbing perennial growing at the edges of thickets.
The underground stems are well developed and bear overwintering buds at their tips.
Tendrils arise from the leaf axils and fork into two.
The leaves are alternate and pedately compound, usually with 5 leaflets; the leaflets are elliptic, serrate, thin in texture, and sparsely hairy on the upper surface.
It is dioecious.
Small yellowish-green flowers are borne in panicles arising from the leaf axils, and the corolla is star-shaped with 5 lobes.
The fruit is a round berry that ripens blackish green, and a ring-shaped scar left where the calyx and corolla fell remains at the top.
[Uses]
The stems and leaves are used medicinally and also for health tea.
[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the sweetness of the leaves.
