Plants and Flowers in Tokyo & Japanese Culture by Kei Narujima　東京の草花＆つぶやき

Rose-Gold Pussy Willow (Salix Gracilistyla)　ネコヤナギ（猫柳）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've heard of the plant many times but actually saw one for the first time. This is a rose-gold pussy willow (Salix gracilistyla) with blossoms, which are so cute! The buds are covered and protected before opening by reddish bud scales like in the 2nd photo. But it's worth protecting. The fluffy blossoms are so adorable.

The rose-gold pussy willow is called "neko yanagi" in Japanese, meaning "cat🐈 willow," showing unusually the same perception between English and Japanese speakers.

2025/2/19

2025/2/21

Lady's Smock (Cardamine Pratensis)　ハナタネツケバナ（花種漬花）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've been looking down recently while on a morning walk to find speedwells and shaggy soldiers but in vain. Instead, I've found these tiny flowers surrounded by the deep green leaves. I guess they're lady's smocks (Cardamine pratensis) because of their cupped shape like smocks. So cute, so adorable, but so difficult to take photos of when windy.

2025/2/20

"Thousand-Flowered" Pink, Red, and White Japanese Camellias　千重咲きのピンク、赤、白の椿

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Following the white and red ones, I'm writing today about maybe the last ones, "thousand flowered" PINK Japanese camellias. As the other colors, the pink ones do not show their prominent stamens, either, as their stamens (and pistils) have disappeared or degenerated, or changed into petals. So, here is a question for you. Which color do you like the most? Me? Can't decide.

By the way, the fact that these camellias have no stamens gave rise to one question for me, i.e. how a thousand flowered camellia dies. Will it fall off in its entirety like other usual Japanese camellias even though it has no stamens, which (more specifically, the filament part) connects with petals, allowing its unique way of dying as opposed to sasanqua camellias, which die with petals falling off one by one without such connection. The answer is in the 6th photo. Even without stamens, a thousand flowered Japanese camellia falls off in its entirety. A Japanese camellia IS a Japanese camellia whether it has stamens or not.

2025/2/19

Lenten Rose (Helleborus Orientalis)　クリスマスローズ（寒芍薬）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I went to see Japanese plum blossoms, finding these Lenten roses (Helleborus orientalis) under the tree. The plant tag nearby says "クリスマスローズ (Christmas rose)," which made me wonder if that is true because it's February now! I did some research, finding they're not Christmas but Lenten roses. The Lenten rose was named as such after it blooming from February to April or in the Lent period, i.e., the 40-day period before Easter. Still, however, the plant's Japanese name is "クリスマスローズ (Christmas rose)." That may be because few Japanese people know about the Lent period.

2025/2/18

Pink, White, and Pink/White Plum Blossoms (Prunus Mume)　紅白＆源平咲きの梅

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

A Japanese apricot tree, which had almost no flowers last week, has come into bloom with deep pink blossoms, creating the beautiful contrast against the white blooms and the blue sky.

In Japan, plum blossoms are less popular, attracting less attention than cherry blossoms, but during the Nara period (from 710 to 794), the other way round. People enjoyed viewing not cherry but plum blossoms while eating, drinking, and composing waka or Japanese poems under the trees in spring.

Some plum trees produce white and pink blossoms on the same tree. If you're interested in the mechanism, read this post!

2025/2/15

Kawazu Cherry (Cerasus x Kanzakura 'Kawazu-Zakura')　カワヅサクラ（河津桜）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Plants make people not only more talkative but friends. These are Kawazu cherry blossoms (Cerasus x kanzakura 'Kawazu-zakura'). A woman I'd become acquainted with through Japanese apricot blossoms told me their whereabouts.

Kawazu cherry, a crossbreed of Oshima cherry (Prunus speciosa) and Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata), is named as such because it was first found in 1972 in Kawazu town, Shizuoka prefecture (Source: Kawazu town tourist association). Kawazu cherry trees bloom from early February to March, a little earlier than other cherry trees. A Kawazu cherry blossoms festival is held in the town every February.

Below is a list I've enjoyed viewing for the last couple of years. Hope you'll enjoy them, too!

2025/2/11

Winter Aconite (Eranthis Pinnatifida)?　セツブンソウ（節分草）？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've done research for the last week to identify these flowers but in vain and now have come to think they may be winter aconites (Eranthis pinnatifida) (although I'm still not certain). The winter aconite is called "setsubun sou" in Japanese, meaning "setsubun plant" after its flowering around the setsubun day or February 3, i.e., the date before the beginning of spring on the lunisolar calendar.

Winter aconite means "grace," "brilliance," "smile" and "I dislike people." I don't understand what the last one means.

2025/2/1

Cherry Seeds　桜の種

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The popularity of a plant doesn't necessarily mean its popularity after blooming and this is a typical example for that, isn't it? These are cherry seeds (according to the buds in the 2nd photo). The black seeds covered by torn fruit skin caught my eye. They will fall off soon to be replaced by beautiful blossoms, but it's too unfair. That's why I'm writing this post, wishing you to (sometimes) look at such adorable but often overlooked fruits and seeds.

2025/2/6

Pink and White Winter Daphne (Daphne Odora and Daphne Odora F. Alba)　沈丁花と白花沈丁花

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Pink (Daphne odora) and white winter daphne (Daphne odora f. alba) have started to bloom. The flowers in these pictures are deep pink and pale yellow green but become white both when open. Daphne flowers are fragrant, which I can't enjoy now because I have hay fever.

2025/2/6

Mascarene Island Leaf Flower (Phyllanthus Tenellus)　ナガエコミカンソウ（長柄小蜜柑草）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Can you see tiny green things hanging from stems? They're flowers of Mascarene Island leaf (Phyllanthus tenellus) or "nagae komikan sou" in Japanese, which means "long stem small mandarin orange plant." You can see how tiny the fruits are by looking at the second photo. The third and subsequent photos are of the buds, which are so tiny and adorable. I've now realized that I missed seeing the flowers.

2025/2/3

2025/2/1

Japanese Jasmine (Jasminum Mesnyi)　オウバイモドキ/ウンナンオウバイ（黄梅擬/雲南黄梅）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It wasn't until last Sunday that I noticed these blooms. They're Japanese jasmine (Jasminum mesnyi). It was raining in Tokyo that day and that's why the two flowers in the first photo were wet and partially frozen, looking like artificial flowers. Although one of its common English names is Japanese jasmine, it's native to Vietnam and southern China and so the plant's called "Yunnan yellow apricot" in Japanese.

2025/2/2

2025/2/4

2025/2/2

登録: 投稿 (Atom)