Pink Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Articulata) イモカタバミ（芋酢漿草、芋片喰）

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There are two types of pink wood sorrel, Oxalis articulata (those in this post) and Oxalis debilis. Both are native to South America but can now be found across Japan. 

The two are often confused but it's easy to tell which is which. Oxalis articulata is deeper pink and has a dark purple flower center and yellow anthers while Oxalis debilis is paler pink, having a pale yellowish green center and white anthers. Another big difference is in underground systems. Oxalis articulata has underground stems (i.e., rhizomes) like potatoes while Oxalis debilis grows from bulbils. This difference can be seen in Oxalis articulata's Japanese name "imo katabami," which translates into "potato wood sorrel," although poteto's underground stems are not rhizomes but tubers.

2026/5/18

MINI Pomegranate (Punica Granatum) ミニザクロ（ミニ柘榴）

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The flowers are bright orange as the usual ones but are so mini as are the fruits (2nd photo)! They're MINI pomegranate (Punica granatum). 

2024/8/3

Pink Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Debilis) ムラサキカタバミ（紫酢漿草）

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Pink wood sorrel (Oxalis debilis) is native to South America, introduced to Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868) for aesthetic appeal. There are two types of pink wood sorrel, Oxalis debilis and Oxalis articulata. Both are pink but Oxalis debilis (those in this post) is a little bluish and paler. For a more detailed description of the differences between the two pink wood sorrel, read the post about Oxalis articulata.  

2026/5/17

St. John's Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) セイヨウオトギリソウ（西洋弟切草）

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These are St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum). The plant is native to Europe, west Asia, and northern Africa. It produces bright yellow flowers from June to August with long stamens as Chinese St. John's wort (Hypericum monogynum). They resemble each other but the flower size is different. The Chinese ones are bigger.  

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) came to Japan after the late 1940s and before that Japan had another St. John's wort (Hypericum erectum) native to Asia. Therefore, Hypericum perforatum is called "western Hypericum erectum," which translates into "western plant killing younger brother" after a Japanese legend that a man got so angry at his younger brother, who'd leaked an important secret of a medicine made from St. John's wort, that he killed the brother😱. Because of this legend, in Japan, St. John's wort means "grudge" and "superstition." As the legend suggests, in Japan, the stems and leaves of Hypericum erectum were used as folk medicine to stop bleeding and for other medical purposes.   

Someone who can't keep their mouths shut ended up being killed in not only Japan but also in Italy. In an Italian short story "Mateo Falcone," a father kills his 10-year-old son because the son can't keep his mouth shut.

2022/6/30

2022/6/30

Japanese Bay Tree (Machilus Thunbergii) タブノキ（椨の木）

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Beautiful green attracted my eye. These are fruits of the Japanese bay tree (Machilus thunbergii). The Japanese bay tree is native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. The fruits turn deep purple in summer, which, according to the internet, taste like avocado. This is understandable. The Japanese bay tree and avocado are both in the Lauraceae family. Japanese bay tree fruits are much smaller though, about 1 cm in diameter. 

2026/5/17

Kurogane Holly (Ilex Rotunda) 黒鉄黐（クロガネモチ）

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Who can imagine the tree has such pretty flowers! They're flowers of Kurogane holly trees (Ilex rotunda), which are native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. I've seen the trees several times but only their fruits, which are also beautiful, and never expected them to produce such tiny beautiful flowers. After the flower season, Kurogane holly trees produce fruits (scroll down), which are green at first, turning orange, then red beautifully in autumn.  

2026/5/17

False Strawberry (Potentilla Hebiichigo Yonek. et H.Ohashi) ヘビイチゴ（蛇苺）

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False strawberries (Potentilla hebiichigo Yonek. et H.Ohashi) are native to east to south Asia and can be found across Japan. False strawberries produce yellow flowers from April to June and berries at almost the same time. The berries are edible and look delicious, but tasteless and that's why in Japan they're called "hebiichigo" as contained in its scientific name, which translates into "snake strawberries" or "strawberries for snakes." 

False strawberries (Potentilla hebiichigo Yonek. et H.Ohashi) resemble another type of false strawberry (Potentilla indica) very much but there's a clear difference, i.e., the former's receptacle is white while the latter's is red and glossy. Both false strawberries produce yellow flowers from April to May in Japan (scroll down) but I was able to find them only once (2nd photo).   

2026/5/17

2026/5/14

Fish Mint (Houttuynia Cordata) ドクダミ

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Fish mint (Houttuynia cordata) is invasive and smelly but its color contrast between the green yellow spike, the white bracts surrounding it, and the deep green leaves (whose edge is red) is so beautiful and always attracts me. 

I have a good memory of fish mint. My late maternal grandma, who ran a small Japanese green tea shop after her husband (i.e., my maternal grandpa) had died, often sent fish mint tea to me, who was suffering serious acne at that time. 

Fish mint tea is known for curing acne in Japan. It didn't taste good and I didn't like it, but I was so desperate that I drank the tea as many times as possible. My acne problem hadn't been cured until a skin doctor applied special treatment, but I'm pretty sure that the fish mint tea grandma gave me improved my skin condition!

Fish mint's English and Japanese names both don't describe its prettiness or medical efficacy, but even so, when passing by the flowers, I always feel warm and encouraged by Grandma, who lost her husband in her early 30s and after that raised her four daughters by herself, and maybe because of that, who was too busy to smile. Her favorite line was, "What's inside counts most!" When seeing fish mint I always ask myself what's inside of me.

2026/5/16

2022/5/20

Longstalk Holly (Ilex Pedunculosa) ソヨゴ（戦）

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Longstalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa) is native to Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree produces tiny white flowers (about 1 cm in diameter) from May to June and red fruits from October to November.  

Longstalk holly is dioecious, which means they have male and female flowers. Scroll down to see male and female flowers!  

2022/5/27 Female flowers

2026/5/15 Male flower

Hollyhock (Alcea Rosea) 立葵（タチアオイ）

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Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are native to Turkey and East Europe but can be found across Japan. The plant produces white, pink, purple, and red flowers (single and double flowered) from June to August in Japan. Their Japanese name is "tachi aoi," which translates into "standing mallow," and mallows have a special connotation in Japan. 

"Mitsuba aoi," which translates to "three leafed mallow," is the crest of the Tokugawa clan, who ruled Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). This is known nationwide even now because of a long run "samurai" television program about Mitsukuni Tokugawa (1628-1701), one of the grandchildren of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. This period drama was aired initially from 1969 to 2011 and is still rerun now.   

In the drama, Mitsukuni travels throughout the country incognito to discover and investigate injustice and in the end defeats and punishes corrupt samurai and merchants. At the end of each episode, Mitsukuni (or more specifically, one of his two samurai retainers) brandishes an "inro" pillbox with the "three leafed mallow" crest to reveal Mitsukuni's identity, i.e., a member of the Tokugawa clan. (By the way, although Mitsukuni existed and was a relation of the shogun, the drama episodes are all fictional.)

Interestingly, however, the Tokugawa clan's crest is not "three leafed mallow" actually but Asarum caulescens Maxim., which is a very plain, two-leafed or heart shaped plant. The Tokugawa clan's crest, three-leafed mallow, is said to be modeled on this plain plant.

Then, another question comes up. Why did someone who wanted to rule the country choose such a plain plant as their crest? One website says that many samurai clans during the age of warring states (1467-1615) chose plain plants as their crests to show that they were strong and hardy enough to survive in such harsh circumstances as these plants were. 

2026/5/15

2026/5/15

Various Lacecap Hydrangeas (Hydrangea Macrophylla F. Normalis) 額紫陽花いろいろ

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It's almost impossible to classify lacecap hydrangeas based on color. Each one has cream, blue, purple, green, pink, and red fertile flowers surrounded by pink, blue, purple, red, and even white sterile decorative sepals, changing their gradients as time passes. It's reasonable that one of its Japanese names is "shichi henge," which translates into "seven changes."

2020/6/3

2026/5/15