葎

Etymology 1
From. Probably the eastern Japanese form. Compare the alternation in ugura and mugura readings in the etymology of.

May ultimately derive from obsolete verb, perhaps related to the way that weeds are often removed by tearing the plant out.

Noun

 * 1) any of various plants of order  or, that form thickets, often have thorns and form vines, and prefer wet or disturbed soils; generally regarded as weeds
 * , text here:
 * 牟具良波布 / 伊也之伎屋戸母 / 大皇之 / 座牟等知者 / 玉之可麻思乎
 * 葎延ふ / 賎しき宿も / 大君の / 座さむと知らば / 玉敷かましを
 * むぐら はふ / いやしき やど も / おほきみ の / まさむ と しらば / たま しかまし を
 * Mugura hafu / iyashiki yado mo / ohokimi no / masamu to shiraba / tama shikamashi wo
 * Even a shabby house surrounded by weed thickets would be as if strewn with jewels if I knew you were there

Usage notes
The plants called by this name are many and varied, and include plants such as madder, cleaver, and hops.

The reading mugura appears to be the most common.

Derived terms

 * : a gate overgrown with viny weeds
 * : a gate overgrown with viny weeds
 * : a house overgrown with viny weeds
 * : a dense growth of viny weeds
 * : literally “big twin-leaf mugura”, or
 * , : literally “money mugura”,, : the Japanese hop plant
 * : literally “pebble-accustomed mugura”,
 * : literally “thornless mugura”,, or
 * : literally “flowering eight-layer mugura”, or
 * : literally “twin-leaf mugura”,
 * : literally “eight-layer mugura”, ( or )
 * : literally “four-leaf mugura”,

Etymology 2
From. Probably the western Japanese form. Compare the alternation in ugura and mugura readings in the etymology of.

Noun

 * 1) any of various plants of order  or, that form thickets, often have thorns and form vines, and prefer wet or disturbed soils; generally regarded as weeds

Etymology 3
Probably an alteration or dialectal variant of mugura above. Appears with this reading in the 本草和名 (Honzō Wamyō, “Japanese Names of the Real Herbs”), a pharmacopoeia written in 923. Still listed as an alternate reading in modern dictionaries.

Noun

 * 1) Any of various plants of order  or, that form thickets, often have thorns and form vines, and prefer wet or disturbed soils; generally regarded as weeds