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Aralia cordata
Young Aralia cordata shoot in spring
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Araliaceae
Genus:	Aralia
Species:	A. cordata
Binomial name
Aralia cordata Thunb.

Aralia cordata is an upright herbaceous perennial plant growing up to 2-3 m in height, native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. It is known as Udo (Japanese: 独活) in Japanese, and also as Japanese Spikenard. It commonly is found on the slopes of wooded embankments.

Growth

The leaves are alternate, large, and double to triple pinnate with leaflets 7-15 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The flowers are produced in large umbels 30-45 cm diameter in late summer, each flower small and white. The fruit is a small black drupe 3 mm diameter.

Medicinal uses

The stem can be eaten and is sometimes boiled and served in miso soup. The roots are sometimes used for herbal medicines.

Despite its size, it is not a woody plant, as demonstrated in the popular saying Udo no taiboku (Japanese: 独活の大木), literally "great wood of udo", meaning roughly useless as udo has a very soft stem.

Udo is often mistaken to be shishiudo (Angelica pubescens, in the family Apiaceae).

Can also be used in "udowormy" when the udo plant has been infected by the pupae stage of the Japanese beetle. The leaves from these infected plants are highly sought after to make "udowormy" tea, which has proved to be beneficial in relieving stress.

See also

• Wikiquote:Japanese proverbs

From Wikispecies

Aralia cordata

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Euasterids II
Ordo: Apiales
Familia: Araliaceae
Subfamilia: Aralioideae
Genus: Aralia
Species: Aralia cordata

Name

Aralia cordata Thunb.

References

• USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database, 6 March 2006 (http://plants.usda.gov).

Data compiled from various sources by Mark W. Skinner. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

• Fl. jap. 127. 1784
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. [1]

Vernacular names

For more multimedia, look at Aralia cordata on Wikimedia Commons.