chameleon plant; Houttuynia cordata
A perennial herb native to East Asia, known for its distinctive smell and used in traditional medicine and herbal tea.
Dokudami grows well even in the shade.
My grandmother often drinks dokudami tea.
Katakana spelling is common for this plant name; usually written in kana.
Hiragana spelling; also common.
Rare kanji form; it is rarely used.
Rare mixed kanji-kana form; it is rarely used.
Archaic kanji form using outdated characters.
The name ドクダミ (dokudami) is of native Japanese origin. The kanji 毒痛み (literally 'poison pain') and 蕺草 are ateji; the exact derivation of the name is uncertain.