わが国の各地をはじめ、朝鮮半島や中国、シベリアに分布しています。山野に生え、高さは15〜30センチになります。全体に長い毛が生え、匍匐枝はだしません。葉は奇数羽状複葉で束生し、卵形の小葉は5〜9個あります。4月から8月ごろ、花茎を伸ばして集散花序をつけ、黄色い花を咲かせます。和名は、丸く広がったかたちをキジの座る蓆に見立てたもの。中国語では「莓葉委陵菜(mei ye wei ling cai) 」と呼ばれます。
バラ科キジムシロ属の多年草で、学名は Potentilla fragarioides var. major。英名はありません。
The "Kiji-mushiro" (Potentilla fragarioides var. major) belongs to Rosaceae (the Rose family). It is a perennial herb that is native all over Japan, as well as the Korean Peninsula, China and Siberia. This herb grows in mountains and fields, and can reach 15-30 cm in height. The whole plant is covered with long hairs and the runners do not bear. The leaves are impari-pinnate compound and fasciculate with 5-9 ovate leaflets. The flowering stalks are borne and the yellow flowers bloom in the cymes from April to August. The Japanese name "Kiji-mushiro" is derived from its rounded, spreading shape, which resembles a seat on which a pheasant sits. It is called "莓葉委陵菜" (mei ye wei ling cai) in Chinese.