Folding ear root stem is flat cylindrical, twisted, brownish-yellow surface, with a number of longitudinal ribs, the nodes are obvious, the lower part of the nodes have remnants of fibrous roots; brittle, easy to break.

Fishweed, also known as Fritillariae, is a plant of the Sanbai Cao family, produced in the provinces south of the Yangtze River Basin in China, which has a fishy odor when crushed and a slightly astringent taste.

Fishy grass is a perennial herb, 30 to 50 centimeters high, the whole plant has a fishy odor; the upper part of the stem is erect, often purplish-red, the lower part is creeping, and the rootlets are whorled at the nodes.

Leaves alternate, thin papery, glandular dotted, especially abaxially, ovate or broadly ovate, base cordate, entire, often purplish red abaxially, palmately veined. Flowers small, summer-blooming, without perianth, arranged in spikes opposite the leaves and about 2 cm long.

Capsules subglobose, 2-3 mm in diameter, apically dehiscent, with persistent styles. Seeds numerous, ovate. Fl. May-June, fr. Oct-Nov.

The growth habit of the folding root:

Suitable for growth in a warm and humid climate, relatively afraid of drought, the soil humidity requirements are very large, like to grow in the acidic wet sandy soil, more adapted to the warm climate of the South, in the usual growth time need to be watered in time to keep the soil moist.