Pomegranate (Punica Granatum) ザクロ（柘榴）

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The pomegranate (Punica granatum) originated in the region spanning from the west to south Asia to the Middle East. It produces bright orange flowers in June and fruits that contain ruby-like edible seeds and pulp from September to October in Japan. 

The flowers always cheer me up with their bright orange while making me chuckle with their unique shape after petals fall off, which looks like an octopus sausage, i.e., a sausage cut to look like an octopus, often seen in children’s Bento lunches in Japan. BTW, octopuses have no legs but only arms.

If you've never seen a sculpture of a pomegranate fruit made of agate and ruby, read this post! You should be surprised by how real it looks!  

2025/6/8

2025/6/8

Chinese St. John's Wort (Hypericum Monogynum) ビヨウヤナギ（未央柳）

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Chinese St. John's wort (Hypericum monogynum) is native to China, coming to Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). It produces five petalled bright yellow flowers from June to July with incredibly long (also) bright yellow stamens where bees often bathe and dance.    

2026/5/19

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). 

2026/5/19

2024/8/3

Smiling Monkey Forest Tree (Magnolia Maudiae) ミヤマガンショウ（深山含笑）

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Smiling monkey forest trees (Magnolia maudiae) are native to China but can be found in some places in Tokyo (although not as often as you would find Yulan magnolias). The smiling monkey forest tree produces white flowers from February to March in Tokyo. 

I did research about why the magnolia is called "smiling monkey forest tree" but couldn't find any good origin of the name. Interestingly, its Japanese name translates into "smiling flowers in deep mountains." Maybe everyone seeing the flower is reminded of someone's or monkeys' smiling face. 

2026/2/28

2026/2/28

Lithocarpus Edulis (Japanese Stone Oak) 馬刀葉椎（マテバシイ）

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These are the nuts of lithocarpus edulis or more commonly the Japanese stone oak. The nuts are edible, tasting like chestnuts when baked (according to a website). I often picked the acorns when I was a child but I saw green acorns (2nd photo) for the first time.  

In Japan, the nuts of fagaceae trees are collectively called "donguri" and there's a famous song for children about an acorn falling into a pond "Donguri korokoro (i.e., Rolling acorn)."    

When these pale brown acorns turn dark brown, I hope the temperature and the number of Covid-19 patients will both become lower... 

2026/5/17

2021/8/31

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

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