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The "Monpa-no-ki" (Argusia argentea) belongs to Boraginaceae (the Borage family). It is a small evergreen tree that is distributed southward from the Ryukyu Islands, the Ogasawara Islands in Japan to Taiwan, Eastsouth Asia, Micronesia and Africa. This tree grows on coastal screes and can reach 5-10 m in height. The leaves are obovate-elliptic, thick and covered with dense white hairs on the surfaces. The flowers are small, white and bloom in the cymes in mostly year round. The leaves are used as a herbal medicine for abdominal pain. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "白水木", and "銀毛樹" (yin mao shu) in Chinese.
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