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The Wart-removing herb (Aneilema keisak) belongs to Commelinaceae (the Spiderwort family). It is an annual herb that is distributed from Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu of Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and China. This herb grows in rice fields and swamps, and can reach 20-30 cm in height. The stem is creeping and throws out roots at nodes. The pale magenta flowers come in September through November. It is a lowland weed, though used for removing the wart about that long ago. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "水竹葉", and "疣草" (you cao) in Chinese.
In Korean, it's called "sa-ma-gwi-pul" (사마귀풀). This is a compound word consisting of "wart" (sa-ma-gwi: 사마귀) and "grass" (pul: 풀). It originates from a folk remedy in which the juice extracted by crushing the plant is applied to warts on the skin to make them fall off.
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