Coastal hog fennel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Coastal hog fennel
Scientific classification
Genus:	Peucedanum
Species:	japonicum

Peucedanum japonicum, also known as coastal hog fennel, is a species of Peucedanum, a genus rich in medicinal species belonging to the parsley family, Apiaceae.

Publication of binomial

Peucedanum japonicum was described by Thunberg in 1784.

Description

Peucedanum japonicum has a stout umbellifer of 30–100 cm and is essentially glabrous. The stem is frequently flexuous. The leaf blade is broadly ovate-triangular. It size is 35 x 25 cm. It is thinly coriaceous, bearing 1-2 ternate(s). leaflets are ovate-orbicular, 3-parted, 7–9 cm broad and glaucous. Its central segments are obovate-cuneate, its lateral segments are oblique-ovate. Umbels are 4–10 cm across; bracts are either 2-3 or absent, ovate-lanceolate, 5-10 x circa 2mm, pubescent. It sports 15-30 rays of 1–5 cm, unequal and puberulous. It has 8-10 bracteoles, linear-lanceolate, equalling or longer than flowers. It hascirca 20-flowered umbellules. It has calyx teeth are obsolete. Petals are purple or white abaxially hispidulous. Its styles are short. The fruit is oblong-ovate or ellipsoid, to 6 x 4mm. It is hirsute, especially on dorsal ribs; its lateral ribs have very thick wings.Its vittae are small, with 3-5 in each furrow, 6-10 on commissure.

They flower in June to July and fruit from August to September.

Habitat

The plant inhabits coastal areas and seashores below 100 meters, typically in soil found to be slightly acidic to mildly alkaline.

Distribution

P. japonicum can be found in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Hong Kong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Taiwan and Zhejiang in addition to Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

Uses

Korea

In Korea, the plant is usually referred to as bangpung (방풍) or bangpungnamul (방풍나물) although its official name is gaetgireumnamul (갯기름나물). In Korean cuisine, the leaves of coastal hog fennel are used fresh as ssam vegetable (for hoe) or pickled in soy sauce and vinegar to make jangajji. It can be used as a main ingredient in namul dishes, or added as a herb to soybean paste stew, starch jelly dishes, fritters and pancakes, noodle soups and dough soups, stir-fried glass noodles, rice, or even Korean-style Italian lasagne.

• 

  Bangpungnamul-muchim (seasoned coastal hogfennel leaves)

• 

  Coastal hogfennel rice cakes for tteokguk (rice cake soup)

Japan

In Japan, peucedanum japonicum is also known as the longevity herb and long known to have medicinal properties. P. japonicum called chyou-mei-gusa, which translates to grass for longevity and is served in traditional Japanese dishes during shirayoi, the naming ceremony for a newborn, and yahnuyoi, celebration for the completion of a new house. Yonaguni Island produces over 90% of the herb's production in Okinawa and could become another significant medicinal crop for Okinawa, following turmeric and aloe. Cosmetics company Shiseido markets P. japonicum as a health food, Shiseido Longevity Herb, in the form of tablets, a powder and a drink. Okinawns have a longer lifespan and lower incidence of cancer compared to the Japanese mainland. Some believe this longevity to be due to dietary factors, however the exact reasons have yet to be verified. In ancient times, P. japonicum leaves and roots were used as a medicine treatment for patients with sore throat in the Ryukyu Islands.

China

People of China pronounce P. japonicum as bin hai qian hu (滨海前胡). Its older name was fang kui (防葵).

Feverish people should not take it because it causes one to be delirious and see spirits. Taoist sage Tao Hongjing speaks of two kinds of fang-feng (which normally refers to Saposhnikovia in Chinese), noting :

The root is spicy and non-poisonous. The kind that bifurcates at the top produces madness. The kind that bifurcates at the bottom causes reversion of old ailments.

'Spicy and non-poisonous' accords well with the culinary use of P. japonicum in Korean cuisine, whereas 'bifurcates at the top' and 'produces madness' accords with the morphology and medicinal/toxic properties of S. divaricata. However, as fang k'uei, P. japonicum is definitely used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes in China, where it is employed as an 'eliminative', diuretic, tussive, sedative and tonic.

In a mice model, the plant was found to possibility inhibit high fat diet-induced obesity for various possible reasons, including the presence of anti-obesity phytochemicals, which inhibit fat absorption through gene expression in the liver, adipose tissue and muscle.