菠薐草

Etymology
The plant was introduced to Japan in the 16th century from China. A number of Japanese sources state that the term  had previously been borrowed from  to refer vaguely to Persia or Nepal. The spinach plant did likely originate in the area of ancient Persia, but the Chinese term itself means, not Nepal or Persia or any other place name. The plant was introduced to China via the region of Nepal around the year 647, suggesting that the Chinese term may have been borrowed from the language in use by the Licchavi kingdom ruling Nepal at that time. One possible 🇨🇬 source term is. Compare modern 🇨🇬.

The Japanese term would thus be a compound of.

The alternative kanji spellings are ateji or phonetic substitutions.

Noun

 * 1) spinach

Usage notes
The first two kanji are extremely rare; the second character appears to be used only in this term. These two kanji are often replaced with the kana spelling, as.