About Diphylleia grayi F.Schmidt
Diphylleia grayi F.Schmidt is a small plant that reaches a maximum height of 0.4 meters, or 1.3 feet. Its terete stems grow between 30 and 60 centimeters, or 12 and 24 inches, long, and it has stout, knotty rhizomes. This species produces white, pedicellate flowers with six obovate petals that bloom from May to July. A well-known characteristic of this plant is that its petals turn transparent when they come into contact with water, which gives the plant its common name; once the petals dry, they return to their original white color. After flowering, the plant bears dark blue to purple fruit covered in a white powdery coating, with fruiting occurring from June to August. This plant is distributed across north to central Honshu, Hokkaido, Mount Daisen, and Sakhalin, where it grows in slightly moist locations within high mountain woodland. In the 1960s, botanist Yanagi Kimura discovered that crude extracts of D. grayi contain substances that are similar to podophyllin and colchicine, but more powerful. This extract was found to have anti-tumor effects on transplantable animal tumors.
