''Cirsium japonicum'' var. ''japonicum'' is a flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It is a perennial

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

native to Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It is a variety of '' Cirsium japonicum'', and is known by many

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. In Chinese it is known as the Yushan thistle (), named for Yushan mountain on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Uses

''Cirsium japonicum'' var. ''japonicum'' is cultivated for medicinal properties, particularly in Puli and Ren'ai Townships of

Nantou County Nantou is the second largest County (Taiwan), county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives from the Hoanya people, Hoanya Taiwanese aborigines, Taiwanese ...

on Taiwan. ''C. japonicum'' var. ''japonicum'' was believed to be depicted on the reverse side of the NT$1000 bill, near the bottom left corner, but in 2019, botanists reclassified the depicted plant as a new species, '' C. tatakaense''. Comparison of the morphological characters amongst the species of sect

Comparison of the morphological characters amongst the species of sect

Biology

''Cirsium japonicum'' var. ''japonicum'' typically flowers between September and October, and bears fruit between October and November.

Distribution

The variety ranges from Japan and Korea through China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In Taiwan it is sometimes known by the synonym ''C. kawakamii'', and grows in alpine grasslands of north-central Taiwan between 1,500 and 3,500 meters elevation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21379609, from2=Q15230652 japonicum var. japonicum Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Korea Flora of Taiwan Flora of Vietnam