Amadororo. A plant name — do you know how to read it?
"Ama" is fine, but "yaro" is not "yarō." It reads "tokoro" — Amadororo. Quiet white flowers bloomed under trees in the Ninomaru grove of the East Gardens, south of Palaceside Building in Takebashi, Tokyo.
Slanting stems with slightly angular tips bear small bell-like tubular flowers. Relatives "Tokoro" and "Onidokoro" have thick rhizomes and many root hairs, likened to an old man's beard — "yaro" — but Tokoro rhizomes are bitter while Amadororo is sweet, hence the name.
A delicate flower, yet stems and rhizomes are valued in herbal medicine. Rhizomes washed in early spring or autumn, beard roots removed, boiled in salted water and dried become "yuzhu" or "izui," said to nourish, strengthen, slow aging, beautify skin, and help stroke and diabetes. The 16th-century Chinese "Compendium of Materia Medica" records relief of leg-muscle disorders from stroke, better complexion and luster with long use.
Rhizomes without beard roots steeped in shochu like plum wine become "Amadororo liquor" — pale yellow, distinctive aroma, said to strengthen, slow aging, and beautify skin; Kobayashi Issa is said to have loved it.
Amadororo's flower language: "Cheer up" and "One who understands heartache."