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The Japanese nipplewort (Lapsanastrum apogonoides) belongs to Asteraceae (the Aster family). It is a biennial herb that is distributed from Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and central to southern China. It grows in rice paddies, etc., and spreads its basal leaves in a rosette shape. From March to May, it produces yellow flower heads about 1 cm in diameter on slender stems that grow obliquely upward. There are 6 to 9 ray flowers. The genus "Lapsanastrum" has no corolla hairs on the achene. The "hotokeno-za" in the seven spring herbs refers to this species, and the young leaves are edible. In Taiwanese Chinese it is called "稻搓菜" and in Chinese "稻槎菜" (dao cha cai).
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