Paper Bush is Depreciable in Japan! ミツマタは減価償却します！

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found these strange flowers (?) in the the peony garden within the Ueno Park, Tokyo.

What is this plant?

It is edgeworthia chrysantha or oriental paper bush, but In Japan, it is called "mitsumata" because its stem always splits into three (mitsu) prongs (mata). As far as I see, as the name suggests, every stem branches into three stems! 

Edgeworthia chrysantha or paper bush

Edgeworthia chrysantha is used in Japan to make bank notes and depreciated over a useful life of five years under corporate tax law!

変な形の花を見つけたので名札を見たら「ミツマタ」でした。これが和紙の原料なんですね。しかも法人税法上の減価償却資産で耐用年数5年だとのこと。貴重なものなんですね｡｡｡「変」なんて言ってごめんなさい🙇｡｡｡