Hamilton's Spindletree (Euonymus Hamiltonianus) マユミ（檀）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Some plants bring you happiness through the year and Hamilton's spindletree (Euonymus hamiltonianus) is one of them. The plant is native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces tiny cream flowers from May to June and fruits in autumn. The fruits are four-lobed and green at the beginning, then turn pale pink, and crack to show seeds with red arils in autumn.

A good thing about photographing plants is to make people more talkative. When I was photographing the fruits in September, two women approached me asking what they were. I said they were the fruits of Hamilton's spindletree but the women insisted they couldn't be fruits but buds to flower soon. It was fun talking with strangers about little things.

2025/5/9

Blue Hydrangea Serrata (Tea of Heaven "Mikata-Yae") 美方八重（ミカタヤエ）

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Mikata-yae hydrangeas (Hydrangea serrata (Thunb. ex Murr.) Ser. "Mikata-yae"), early bloomers, are now in full bloom. The buds looked like green stars at the beginning of May, then have turned blue, and are still hanging to pink or purple. Mikata-yae hydrangeas are said to be one of the most beautiful blue hydrangeas. 

2025/5/18

2025/5/18

2025/5/18

2025/5/18

Briza Maxima (Big Quaking Grass) コバンソウ（小判草）

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They're spikelets of big quaking grass (Briza maxima). This is BIG because they're bigger than lesser quaking-grass (Briza minor). When seeing them for the first time, I thought they were some bugs. Its Japanese name is "koban sou," which translates to "old Japanese gold coin plant." Old gold coins in Japan were oval, shaped like these spikelets.

2026/4/22

Corn Speedwell (Veronica Arvensis) タチイヌノフグリ（立犬の殖栗）

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Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) is a member of the speedwell's family. Its flowers are so tiny, just 3 to 5 mm in diameter (see the last photo to see how tiny they are!), and are open only during the day that you wouldn't notice them unless you crouch to look for something on the ground like me😆!  

The speedwell siblings (below) have terrible but funny Japanese names, which were given by Dr. Tomitaro Makino, a late Japanese botanist: 

• Veronica polita (grey field-speedwell) named "inu no fuguri," which translates to "dog's balls," after the resemblance of its fruit shape to dog's balls.
• Veronica persica (Persian speedwell) named "ooinu no fuguri," which translates to "large dog's balls" after its larger flowers than those of grey field-speedwell.
• Veronica arvensis (corn speedwell) named "tachi inu no fuguri," which translates to "standing dog's balls" after its stems standing upright.

2026/4/19

Maple Samara 楓（カエデ）の翼果

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Maple trees are known for autumn leaves but reddish samaras surrounded by fresh green leaves are so beautiful. Maple samaras always remind me of Doraemon bamboo copter.  

2026/4/22

White Evening-Primrose (Oenothera Rosea) 白花夕化粧（シロバナユウゲショウ）

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Evening primroses (Oenothera rosea) are native to America but can now be found across Japan. It usually produces pink flowers from May to September but some have white ones like those in these pictures. Seeing flowers brings me happiness and seeing white evening primroses especially does so because it's so rare to find them. Finding white ones makes me feel as if I had found four-leaf clovers!   

2026/4/21

Yellow-Cress (Rorippa) イヌガラシ属（犬芥子）

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Yellow-cress (Rorippa) is native to Asia and should be found across Japan but not so often in Central Tokyo. The plant grows in wet habitat, producing yellow flowers from April to June in Japan. Its Japanese name is "inu garashi," which translates to "dog mustard greens," because the plant tastes like mustard greens but is of lower quality as food. (To be continued below the 1st photo.)

2026/4/28

Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria Maha) 大和小灰蝶（ヤマトシジミ）

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A male pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) butterfly looks completely different when its wings are open (1st photo) and closed (2nd photo). When closed, you may disregard it because it's plain, just a small white butterfly with black spots. When the wings are open, however, you would be surprised by the beautiful pale blue of the upper side of its wings as suggested by the name. (If you want to see the butterfly showing both sides, see the 3rd photo.) Butterflies are known to open their wings to bask in the sun to warm their bodies, so you're more likely to see the beautiful blue in autumn than summer.   

The pale grass blue resembles the plains cupid (Luthrodes pandava) very much except for the latter having orange spots on the wings. I once mistook a plains cupid for a pale grass blue.   

2025/11/2

Fuzzy Deutzia (Deutzia Scabra) マルバウツギ（丸葉空木）

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The shrub looks like slender deutzia (Deutzia gracilis) (and AI tells so) but I believe this is fuzzy deutzia (Deutzia scabra) because its leaves are round (which is why its Japanese name is "maruba utsugi," translating to "round leafed deutzia") and the flowers are upward facing (while slender deutzia flowers are downward facing). Fuzzy deutzia is native to Japan and can be found across the country. The plant produces white flowers from April to May. 

2026/4/19

Persian Speedwell (Veronica Persica) オオイヌノフグリ（大犬の陰嚢）

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Persian speedwell (Veronica persica) is native to West Asia or Europe. The plant is believed to have come to Japan in the late 19th century and now can be found across Japan. There are a variety of speedwell (see below the 1st photo) but Persian speedwell is the easiest to tell because of its relatively larger size than other types. Persian speedwell usually produces blue flowers but some produce pinkish blue ones (scroll down). (To be continued below the 1st picture.)

2026/4/19

Red Flowering Dogwood (Cornus Florida) 赤い花水木（ハナミズキ）

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Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is native to North America but can now be found across Japan, producing red, white, and cream white flowers from April to May. The dogwood was donated by the U.S. to Japan in 1915 in exchange for cherry trees, a gift of friendship from Japan to the U.S.

Flowering dogwood shows us not only beautiful flowers but also gorgeous leaves in autumn. 

2026/4/19