Banana Shrub (Magnolia Figo) 唐種招霊（カラタネオガタマ）

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Banana shrub (Magnolia figo) is native to SouthEast China and came to Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868) and can now be found across the country. The plant produces flowers from May to June in Japan, which smell like bananas, suggested by the name. Banana shrub is a type of Magnolia but doesn't look like so, which is why banana shrub was categorized into the Michelia genus before 2022. I smelled the flowers to see if they really smell like bananas but because of the loss of my sense of smell (?), I smelled nothing. 

The banana shrub means sweet temptation🍌 in Japanese floriography.   

2024/4/18

Dock (Rumex) いろんなギシギシ

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There are a variety of dock (Rumex) and those in these photos are some of them. I first tried to identify them like Japanese dock, spinach dock, common sorrel, etc., but gave up. Too many types and too subtle the differences are😂. But finding so many people discussing how to identify each dock on websites shows that the dock is loved around the world including Japan!

From a distance, the dock is just green leaves (or just weeds) but when looked closely, the plant shows tiny but beautiful cream/red perianth. The Japanese name of most types of dock contains the term "gishi gishi," which is Onomatopoeia, after the sound produced when the stems are rubbed (which I haven't tried). 

2026/4/26

2026/4/26

Wiesener's Magnolia (Magnolia x Wieseneri) ウケザキオオヤマレンゲ（受咲大山蓮華）

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Wiesener's magnolia (Magnolia x wieseneri) is native to China and a natural cross-breed between Magnolia obovata and Magnolia sieboldii. It produces flowers from April to May, which resemble very much those of Siebold's magnolia but you can tell those in these photos are Wiesener's magnolias because they face upward unlike Siebold's magnolia flowers, which face downward.   

2026/4/26

Annual Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium Rosulatum) ニワゼキショウ（庭石菖）

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Annual blue-eyed grass is native to North America and came to Japan during the Meiji period (1868 - 1912. They start to open from the morning to noon, so if you are a morning bird, you may miss the tiny but lovely flowers as I did. Annual blue-eyed grass flowers are small, 1 cm in diameter, but their striped receptacle is so beautiful.

2026/4/26

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.

2026/4/26

Chinese Fringetree (Chionanthus Retusus) ヒトツバタゴ（一つ葉タゴ）/ナンジャモンジャ

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These are flowers of a Chinese fringetree (Chionanthus retusus). The Chinese fringetree is native to China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan and can be found across Japan. The tree produces beautiful white flowers from April to May, which, before fully open, look to me like aliens floating in the air, and black fruits (scroll down) from September to October, which are inedible and avoided even by birds.

The Chinese fringetree has male and hermaphrodite trees, the same as the Japanese ternstroemia (Ternstroemia gymnanthera). I did research to find out the sex of the tree but in vain.  

2026/4/26

Galls on Cherry Leaves😱 サクラの葉の虫こぶ😱

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What do you see in these photos? Caterpillars? You're half correct, half incorrect. These are cherry leaves or more specifically galls or abnormal outgrowth of the leaves caused by Tuberocephalus sakurae, i.e., aphids. So, don't even think about looking inside! The galls contain many many aphids😱!! If you want to see monstrous ones, scroll down! 

2026/4/24

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

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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.

2026/4/24

2025/5/9

Firethorn Tree (Pyracantha) ピラカンサ（常盤山査子）

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The firethorn or pyracantha is native to an area extending from Southwest Europe east to Southeast Asia and can be found across Japan. The plant produces beautiful white flowers from April to May and red, orange, and yellow fruits from November to January. 

Firethorn trees in Japan usually are 1 to 2 meter tall but they can reach up to 5 meter tall. I once saw such a tall tree (scroll down) several years ago but the tree was removed because of the redevelopment of the surrounding area, which is sad but often happens in Central Tokyo. 

2026/4/24

Trident Maple (Acer Buergerianum) トウカエデ（唐楓）

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These are leaves of a trident maple tree (Acer buergerianum) I found in April. Trident maple is native to South East China and Taiwan, coming to Japan in the early 18th century and can now be found across Japan. 

It's not unusual to see red male leaves in autumn but not so in April, you think? But not necessarily. Leaves turning red in spring is known as a way for plants to protect shoots from ultraviolet rays. The leaves are red but look different from autumn red leaves because of the deep green backdrop.   

2026/4/22

2026/4/22

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