Hong Kong Dogwood vs. American Dogwood トキワヤマボウシとハナミズキ

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I first thought they were American (or flowering) dogwood, but the tag nearby read "Hong Kong dogwood."

Hong Kong dogwood トキワヤマボウシ

It's evergreen 常盤山法師

Hong Kong dogwood is, as the name suggests, native to China, flowering from June to July while American dogwood being native to North America, blooming from April to May.

The shape of bracts (which look like petals but are not) is also different. Hong Kong dogwood's have sharp edges while American dogwood bracts are notch-tipped. (See below!)

White American dogwood
白いハナミズキ

But even so, Hong Kong and American dogwoods are in the same family as their names suggest. It doesn't sound like that, however, when they are called in Japanese....

American dogwood is called "flower, water and tree" in Japanese because the tree needs a lot of water when forming buds in spring and its flowers are conspicuous, while on the other hand, Hong Kong dogwood is called "evergreen Buddhist monk" by comparing the head (or capitulum) of the flower to the head of a monk of the Hieizan (Mt. Hiei) Enryakuji temple and the four bracts surrounding the capitulum to his hood.

A dogwood flower seems to have four petals, but they are actually not petals, but modified leaves called bracts that surround a cluster of tiny yellow/green flowers.

If you are interested in red and creamy white American dogwood flowers, read "Red, White and Creamy White Flowering Dogwood," too!

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常盤山法師（トキワヤマボウシ）です。最初「ハナミズキかな、それにしては季節外れだな」と思って近寄ったら札に「トキワヤマボウシ」とありました。「なんだ、違う種類か」と思ったらこれまた間違い。

二つは仲間。トキワヤマボウシは中国原産、ハナミズキは北米原産です。そして英語では、

トキワヤマボウシ　Hong Kong dogwood
ハナミズキ　　　　American dogwood / flowering dogwood

英語のほうが分かりやすいじゃないか😑｡｡｡

ヤマボウシ（山法師）の名前は、中央の球形の頭状花序を僧侶（山法師）の頭に、それより下の部分から出ている４枚の白色の総苞片を頭巾に見立て、比叡山延暦寺の「山法師」になぞらえたことに由来しているそうです。

ちなみにヤマボウシもハナミズキも、花びらに見えるのは総苞という葉が変形したもので、中心のコチョコチョとした塊が花だそうです。

赤やクリーム色のハナミズキにご興味があれば、４月に書いた「紅白クリームのハナミズキ」も是非お読みください。

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Jaki Demons Shore Up Large Bronze Flower Vase for 1873 Vienna World Exposition 頼光大江山入図大花瓶

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

They're jaki demons—demon-like creatures from Japanese folklore. If you've visited Japan and seen the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhist temples, you've probably looked right at them without realizing it; these lesser demons are almost always depicted being trampled under the Kings' feet. Personally, I like them much more than the Buddhas, kings, or deities.

They're part of a large bronze flower vase housed at the Tokyo National Museum. The vase was crafted in 1872 by Takashige Yokoyama and his son, Yazaemon Yokoyama, for the 1873 Vienna World Exposition. Supporting the base, these demons shore up the weight of the entire 1.3-meter-high masterpiece.

If you ever get the chance to visit Japan and see the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, don't forget to look down at these poor jaki demons. Just like neglected or abused children can grow up to become violent, maybe the same is true for these little demons! 😆

Jaki demons 邪鬼

Mussaenda Parviflora 崑崙花（コンロンカ）

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These small yellow flowers are Mussaenda parviflora.

Mussaenda parviflora flowers 崑崙花の花

Snow white sepals 崑崙花の萼

Before blooming 花が咲く前

Yellow flowers and white sepals
コンロンカの花と萼

The plant's uniqueness is its snow white sepals, which caught my eye a week ago. At that time it didn't bloom yet, but a week later, I found tiny star-shaped yellow flowers surrounded by the white sepals.

Mussaenda parviflora has two Japanese names, "Kunlun Mountains flower" and "handkerchief flower." The first name "Kunlun Mountains flower" is to compare its sepals to snow on the mountains while the second one, "handkerchief flower," is because of its sepals looking like handkerchiefs.

"Kunlun Mountains" reminded me of "Kunlun jade (Konron no gyoku)," a historical fiction about Chinese men travelling to the mountains to collect jade, by Japanese author Yasushi Inoue (1907-1991), and then an incense burner carved from jade in the 19th century during the Qing dynasty and many other beautiful artefacts at Tokyo National Museum.

I really miss the things I took for granted before COVID-19.....

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コンロンカです。最初見たときはまだ花が咲いてなかったので何か分かりませんでしたが、１週間後、黄色い花を見て名前を知ることができました。

日本名は二つあります。「崑崙花（コンロンカ）」と「ハンカチの花」です。

「崑崙花」は、白色の萼片を雪に見立て、中国の崑崙山という山の名前に因んで（出典：Tanpre）、「ハンカチの花」は見た目ですね。星形の花も可愛いですが、やはり白い萼が圧倒的な存在感です！

崑崙花を見て、崑崙山 ⇒ 崑崙の玉（井上靖）⇒ 翡翠香炉 ⇒ 東京国立博物館 と連想が進みました。コロナの前、東京国立博物館によく行ってました。当時当たり前のように考えていたことが、今となっては懐かしいです。

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Not Bottlebrush But Feijoa! 赤ちゃんブラシノキと思ったらフェイジョア！

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Wow! That was my first reaction when finding these pretty red and white flowers. And the next question was, "Why are they still in bloom?" I thought they were bottlebrush flowers, remembering writing about them mid-May. 

First thought they were baby bottlebrush flowers
 赤ちゃんブラシノキかと思ったら｡｡｡｡

Feijoa フェイジョアでした

Or pineapple guavas
パイナップルグアバとも言います

This is bottlebrush これがブラシノキ

People learn and I'm not an exception. I often get the name of flowers wrong, for example, mistaking daylily for freesia and foxglove for lupin before, so I googled and found that this is not bottlebrush but feijoa or pineapple guava!

Feijoa and bottlebrush flowers are both red but a feijoa has white parts, which are petals (the red parts are stamens), and is not bottlebrush-shaped.  

Anyway, both flowers made me very happy, like Christmas coming soon! According to Wikipedia, Feijoa's fruit is green and edible, tasting like pineapple, apple and mint. I want to try it😋!!

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ブラシノキの赤ちゃん？ 最初そう思いました。こんな珍しい花、そうそうあるもんではありませんから。でも以前、ヘメロカリスとフリージア、そしてジギタリスとルピナスを間違うという失態を犯しましたので、ググりました。するとこれはフェイジョアだということが分かりました（ググってよかった～😅）！

赤いのは雄しべ、白い部分が花弁だそうです。実はパイナップルとバナナとリンゴを混ぜたような味だそう。食べてみたいです😋

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Lilium Maculatum Thunberg スカシユリ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Blackout lily's red (click here to read "Asiatic 'Black Out' Lilly") is so powerful, but the orange of the lily below is as powerful as that red, isn't it?

This is Lilium maculatum Thunberg or in Japanese "see-through lily" because of openings between petals, through which it's said people can see things. So I carefully observed the lily to see if I could really see through between the petals, but I couldn't. I didn't find any gaps between them🙄.....  

By the way, this color orange and Blackout's red reminded me of sweaters I bought last year. I used to prefer dull colors, but am getting more interested in brighter colors like these orange and red lilies (or sweaters). As a result I have worn almost every color, i.e., white, yellow, beige, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, navy, green, black, brown, gray.....

I've been intrigued by colors and that's why I admire late Mr. Sachio Yoshioka, a Japanese natural dyer and textile historian. When I feel sad or need something to cheer me up, I often read one of his books, "Dictionary of colors in Japan (Nihon [or Nippon] no iro jiten)," listing shades of colors according to Japanese color classification.

2020/6/7

Asiatic 'Black Out' Lilly 赤い百合「ブラックアウト」

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is Asiatic lily "Blackout."

Asiatic Black Out Lilies ブラックアウト

Why "Black out"?
名前の由来は分かりませんでした｡｡｡

Why is it "Black out"? I googled, but couldn't find the reason. Is it because the flower is so beautiful that someone looking at it may lose consciousness? Or when someone blacks out, do they often see something red like this flower? 

Anyway, the name "Black out" matches this dark carmine red lily so much! 

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最初、一瞬後ずさり。自然のものとは思えない赤。いやいや、花だから自然か｡｡｡ なんて思いつつ、写真を撮りました。

「ブラックアウト」という百合です。名前の由来を調べましたが分かりませんでした。あまりにきれいでみんな気を失う（ブラックアウトする）からでしょうか。

理由は分かりませんが、ぴったりな名前だと思いました😄

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