Mitsuba, or Japanese honewort, is a leafy herb widely used in Japanese cooking, in soups, egg custards, and as a garnish. Each leaf has three leaflets on a long stalk, which is what its Japanese name means. It is native to Japan, Korea, and China, and in the US you'll mostly see it in herb and vegetable gardens. It is also called Japanese parsley.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A clump-forming perennial that is fairly short-lived. Leafy clumps stay low, about 6 in (15 cm), while flower stalks usually reach about 20 in (50 cm) and can top 3 ft (1 m) in garden plantings.
- Leaves
- Three toothed, egg-shaped leaflets on a long stalk, about 3–6 in (8–15 cm) long.
- Flowers
- Tiny white flowers in loose umbrella-shaped clusters () in summer.
- Fruit
- Small, narrow, two-part dry fruits that turn dark when ripe.
Look-alikes
HonewortCryptotaenia canadensis
The two are very similar close relatives. Honewort grows wild in eastern US woods, while mitsuba is mostly a garden plant here.
Why they get mixed upThey are such close relatives that some botanists call them one species.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- shady woodland edges
- moist mountain valleys
- herb gardens
- Range
- Native to temperate East Asia, from Vietnam and China to Korea, Japan, and Sakhalin. In the US it is grown as a garden herb, rated for 4a–8b.
- Preferred conditions
- Likes moist soil and partial to deep shade. In full sun the leaves tend to yellow and turn more bitter.
Growing it
- Care
- Grown from seed or by dividing clumps, and it self-seeds readily. Snails and slugs like to eat it.
- Propagation
- Seed or division. Old rosettes die after setting seed, but new ones keep the clump going for years.
- Toxicity
- Eaten widely as a vegetable, but rated as mildly toxic only if eaten in large amounts. Repeated handling can irritate the skin, and people allergic to parsley, celery, or parsnip should be careful.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Some botanists treat mitsuba as an Asian subspecies of the native North American honewort, Cryptotaenia canadensis subsp. japonica.
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.