Thoroughwort / Fujibakama🌼

A perennial in the daisy family, distributed across Japan, Korea, and China. One of the seven autumn flowers and mentioned by Yamanoue no Okura in the Manyōshū. In autumn, many small pale-pink-purple flower heads are borne in corymbs; dried plants release a scent of sakura-mochi (coumarin). In the Edo period it was used as perfume for hair and clothing. Now endangered in the wild due to loss of riverbank and grassland habitat — cultivated plants and close relatives (saw-fujibakama) are often grown instead.

Identification Points

• ✓Distinctive three-lobed leaves, opposite
• ✓Many small pale pink-purple flower heads in corymbs
• ✓Coumarin scent (sakura-mochi aroma) when dried

Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification

Phylogenetic Positionキク科 →