Chinese Artichoke, Japanese artichoke, Japanese potato
Stachys sieboldii

Family: Lamiaceae

What it is like

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The underground stems or rhizomes are white. The stems above ground are 30-120 cm long. The leaf stalks are 1-3 cm long and the leaf blades are oval and 3-12 cm long by 1.5-6 cm wide. The base is wedge shaped. The flowers are red to purple. The nutlets are black-brown and oval. They are 1.5 cm across.

There are about 300 Stachys species. Chemical composition: leaves and tubers contain stachydrin; tubers contain stachyose and manneotetrose.

Where it is found

It is a cool temperate plant. It can grow in cold places. They need a temperate climate, full sun and a well drained soil. In China it grows on wet hillsides and areas covered with water up to 3200 m altitude in northern regions. It needs a pH between 6-6.5 for best growth. It suits plant hardiness zones 4-8. Hobart Botanical Gardens. In Sichuan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Arabia, Asia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Egypt, Europe, France, India, Inner Mongolia, Japan, Malaysia, Middle East, North Africa, North America, SE Asia, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tasmania, USA

How it is used for food

The rhizomes are eaten. The tubers are salted or preserved in plum vinegar. The leaves are eaten raw or boiled or salted. The tubers are usually boiled for a few minutes then eaten. They are also fried, roasted, steamed or pickled. They are pickled with ume plums and salt and Perilla leaves. The tubers discolor when exposed to air and lose flavour when peeled.

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. It is cultivated in China. It is widely cultivated for its root tubers in Japan.

Edible parts

Tubers, root, leaves, stem tubers, vegetable

How it is grown

It can be grown from seed or tubers. Tubers can be planted 5 cm deep and 30 cm apart. The tubers are harvested after the plant dies back.

Its other names

Local names

Choro-gi, Chorogi, Crosnes de Japan, Crosnes, Digua, Gan lu zi, Knotroot, Kon loh, Luosicai, Sieboldov čišljak, Tung tung chow

Synonyms

Stachys affinis Bunge; Stachys tuberiflora Nandin. ex Rev.; Stachys tuberifera Naud.;