also: うすばさいしん
noun
Siebold's wild ginger
A species of wild ginger native to East Asia, used in traditional medicine. The name is usually written in katakana.
See also: 細辛
ウスバサイシンは漢方薬の材料として使われることがある。
Siebold's wild ginger is sometimes used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.
Hiragana spelling, also used.
Kanji spelling is rare and mainly found in botanical contexts.
細辛 refers to the dried root of wild ginger species used in Kampo medicine, while ウスバサイシン is the specific plant species Asarum sieboldii.
The name ウスバサイシン literally means 'thin-leaf wild ginger', from 薄葉 (thin leaf) and 細辛 (wild ginger root). The exact historical derivation is uncertain.