シソ科オドリコソウ属の常緑多年草で、学名は Lamium album var. barbatum (syn. Lamium barbatum)。英名は White deadnettle。
The White deadnettle (Lamium album var. barbatum) belongs to Lamiaceae (the Mint family). It is an evergreen perennial herb that is distributed widely throughout Japan, the Korean Peninsula, China and eastsouthern Asia. This herb grows in mountains, fields or roadsides and can reach 30-50 cm in height. The plants spread by long rhizomes and grow often in large clumps. The leaves are ovate-deltoid to broad ovate and arranged in opposite with coarse toothed edges. The flowers are white to pale magenta or pale yellow and bloom whorled on the upper axils from March to June. The Japanese name "Odoriko-so" is derived from the shape of the flower, which resembles an "odoriko" (dancer) wearing a sedge hat. Its Chinese name is "野芝麻" (ye zhi ma).