I've been seeing these pretty white flowers everywhere recently, so I googled and was surprised because they are fish mint flowers. Fish mint is called "poison accumulation"!! Is my neighborhood contaminated by such beautiful but toxic plants??
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| Fish mint flowers ドクダミの花 |
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| "Poison accumulation" in Japanese ドクダミは英語では「魚ミント」 |
No worries! Although they are called "poison accumulation" in Japanese, they don't contain any toxic substances. Besides, they have another name, "poison blocking" because its Japanese name "doku dami" can be interpreted as "poison accumulation" and "poison blocking" both!! So confusing, isn't it?
I have a good memory of fish mint. My late maternal grandma, who owned a Japanese green tea shop, 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 so desperate that I drank it 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!" I've been asking myself what's inside of me...
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ドクダミと知ってびっくり😲。そしてドクダミが英語では「魚ミント（fish mint）」ということにも😲。魚の臭いがして、ミントのようにはびこる（つまりミントではない）からだそうです。
ドクダミといえばドクダミ茶を思い出します。母方の祖母がニキビに悩んでいた私に昔よく送ってくれました。早くに夫を亡くし、女手一つで娘四人を育て上げた祖母の口癖が「白正味！」。「人間中身が勝負」という意味で使っていました。
ドクダミの白い花を見るたびに亡き祖母に励まされる今日のこの頃です。
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