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"Onino-yagara" (Gastrodia elata) belongs to Orchdaceae (the Orchid family). It is a perennial herb that is distributed throughout Japan, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, China, and eastern Russia. It is a decomposing plant without chlorophyll that grows in thickets, symbiotic with the mycelium of the "honey mushroom" (Armillaria mellea ssp. nipponica). From June to July, 60 to 100 cm long flower stalks grow from the tuber and produce pale yellowish-brown flowers in racemes. The Japanese name comes from the flower scape's resemblance to a demon's arrowhead. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is "高赤箭" and in Chinese, "天麻" (tian ma).
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