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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