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The False pimpernel (Lindernia pyxidaria) belongs to Scrophulariaceae (the Figwort family). It is an annual herb that is widely distributed throughout Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, China, Asia, and Europe. The stem has four ridges and is branched at the bottom. Leaves are ovate to elliptic, opposite, with three to four parallel veins. From August to October, long peduncles emerge from the leaf axils and produce pale reddish-purple labiate flowers. It is one of the most common weeds in paddy fields. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "陌上草" and in Chinese "陌上菜" (mo shang cai).
In Korean, it's called "pat-ttuk-oe-pul" (밭뚝밭뚝). This is a compound word consisting of "ridge" (pat-ttuk: 밭뚝) + "a plant that bears fruit shaped like a gourd" (oe-pul: 밭뚝). The name comes from the fact that its fruit resembles a makuwa melon and it grows along the ridges of vegetable fields and rice paddies.
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