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The "Tankiri-mame" (Rhynchosia volubilis) belongs to Fabaceae (the Pea family). It is a perennial herb that is distributed westward from Kanto district of Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, as well as Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and China. It is a vine and grows in sunny fields and outskirts of woods. The leaves are trifoliate and alternate with obovate, slightly thick leaflets. The stems and leaves are covered with soft hairs. The racemes are borne on the axils and bloom pale yellow flowers in July to September. The fruits are seed pods, ripen red, splitting open and come out seeds. The Japanese name comes from a folk belief that eating these seeds stops phlegm. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "鹿藿", and "鹿藿" (lu huo) in Chinese.
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