Hairy Flowers 🪒 - Spider Flower and Gaura クレオメとガウラは毛深い🪒

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

Hairy flowers often catch my eye. I don't know why. Cleome hassleriana below, commonly known as spider flower, is one such flower.

Cleome hassleriana クレオメ

Spider flower 西洋風蝶草

Cleome has long thread-like stamens 長い雄しべ

Cleome or spider flower is called in Japan "Western wind butterfly flower," meaning Japanese see it as a butterfly while English speakers a spider, and I see it as hair.

The white and pink gaura flowers or beeblossom (because the flower attracts bees!) below also look hairy to me, but in Japan they are called "White butterfly flower" and "Mountain pink flower" respectively. 

White gaura 白のガウラ

White butterfly flower in Japanese 白蝶草

Pink gaura ピンクのガウラ

Mountain pink flower in Japanese 山桃草

Hair removal is very popular in Japan among not only women but also men, and that's not only in Japan. Getting rid of body hair seems to be increasingly popular in the US and European countries, too. But that may not be true of European women. You may still remember French women showing their hairy armpits to fight against the pressure women face to shave or wax. 

Speaking of hair, I have a more serious hair related problem. I have had to cut my own hair myself at least once a month for nearly six months (because I have short hair) 😱 Somebody, HEEELLLP me!

To see more hairy flowers, St. John's wort and love-in-a-mist (nigella), read these posts!
- St. John's Wort is Hairy, Too!
- Love-In-A-Mist is A Bit Hairy....

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なぜか「毛深い」花に惹かれます。上から、

赤い花はクレオメ、またの名を西洋風蝶草。

次の白い花はガウラ、または白蝶草。

ピンクの花もガウラ、または山桃草です。

「毛」と言えば、日本でも欧米でも脱毛が盛んです。男性の脱毛も今は当たり前。一方、女性の間では毛を剃るべきだというプレッシャーに対抗する動きがあります。

ただ、今の私にとって「毛」と言えば「髪の毛」です。かれこれ半年美容院に行っておらず、セルフカットで済ませていますがもう限界！ ショートなので大変です。誰かダスゲデ～😱 ！！ 

私同様、毛深いお花に興味がある方は下の記事もご覧ください！

St. John's Wort is Hairy, Too!　ビヨウヤナギ（未央柳）も毛深いです！
Love-In-A-Mist is A Bit Hairy....　毛深くってごめんなさい🙇 ニゲラより

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Morning Glory - Various Leaf Forms 朝顔の葉っぱいろいろ

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

I've been watching the growth of morning glories for the past several weeks. Some were still buds while others in full bloom. Also, some were up above and others hiding under leaves, but can you tell the differences among these pretty and gorgeous flowers other than the color?  

About to bloom 咲く直前

Ready to bloom 準備万端｡｡｡

Before full bloom 満開直前

Bright pink 濃いピンク

Blooming vertically 直立咲き！

The answer is the leaf form!! There are at least nine leaf forms for morning glories. Did you know that? So, now, let's focus on the form of their leaves! (Source: Various leaf forms of the varied (mutant) Japanese morning glory)

1. General 並葉・常葉

2. Another general 並葉・常葉

3. Round heart shaped - Ants are busy working
丸葉 - アリさん、大忙し！

4. Maple leaf shaped 立田葉？

Morning glories in 1, 2 and 3 are all purple and look completely the same, but although the leaf shape in 1 and 2 is the same, it's different from that in 3. And look at Picture 4. It has at least two maple-leaf shaped leaves divided into five lobes. Wow, that's why it's fun knowing things! 

According to the website, the Japanese morning glory has nine types of leaf shapes, and I've found three of them, which has increased the fun for my morning walk😊!

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ここのところアサガオをずっと見ていました。紫の花が上や下やいろんなところにたくさん咲いています｡｡｡ で、きづいたんです。みんな同じに見えるけど葉っぱの形が違うではないか！

アサガオって９種類も葉の形があるんですね。で、私が見つけたのは「並」、「丸」そして「立田」の３種類。これから朝歩く時の楽しみが増えました😊

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Pentas Has "Pente" Petals ペンタス（草山丹花）

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

I like colors. I like small flowers, especially small flowers composing a cluster. Naturally, I love pentas or Egyptian starcluster, though in a previous post I mistook it for verbena or lantana😅!!

Red and white 紅白

Red 赤

Pink ピンク

Pale pink 薄いピンク

White 白

The name is after the Greek word of "pente" meaning "five," the number of petals of the flower. In Japan, it's called "Mountain Chinese ixora" because the flower looks like Chinese ixora although pentas and Chinese ixora are in different families. 

By the way, I've just found that the top flower of the cluster below has not "pente (i.e., five)" but six petals. Is it like finding a four-leaf clover?  

The top flower has six petals!
てっぺんの花は花弁が６枚？

I googled but found no information about a six-petal Egyptian starcluster, so what do you think I did? I decided to believe that I'm so LUCKY that I found this six-petal pentas....😉  

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ペンタスです。ギリシャ語で「５」を「pente」と言い、花弁が５枚なのでその名がついたそうです。日本語では草山丹花。こちらは山丹花に似ているからだそうですが、種属は違うとのこと。相も変わらず、日本のネーミングはセンスがありません。

ところで最後の写真てっぺんの花、花びら６枚じゃありませんか？これって四つ葉のクローバーみたいなもんですよね。確証は見つけられませんでしたがそう信じることにしました😉

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Petunias in Various Colors 色とりどりのペチュニア

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

I first wrote about petunias in March this year. And at that time I didn't know I would enjoy this flower for such a long time!

Violet petals, violet veins 菫色

Purple veins 薄紫に花脈が濃い紫

Bright pink 濃いピンク

Pink ピンク一色

Pink petals, white center, bright pink veins
ピンクと白

Dark purple 濃い紫

Cream petals with yellow veins 黄色い花脈

Pink petals with white center ピンクがきれい！

Blue or black veins 紺の花脈？

Orange pink veins 濃いピンクの花脈

Lime yellow ライムイエロー

 Red 赤

White 白

Grapefruit pink グレープフルーツ色？

The beauty of petunias is derived from not only petals but beautiful veins as cape periwinkle's prettiness coming from the combination of colors of its petals and eye (i.e., the center of the flower).

Petunia is called "Japanese badminton shuttlecock morning glory" because its sepal looks like a Japanese badminton shuttlecock while the flower morning glory. But to tell you the truth, I didn't know that, mistaking the flower for morning glory four months ago when seeing it for the first time.

The more we know, the more deeply we can enjoy our lives, and morning walking gives me an opportunity to make my life more interesting and fun😉!    

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ペチュニアです。花弁の色と花脈の色のコンビネーションが大好きです。

と偉そうに書きましたが、３月に初めて見たときは朝顔と間違ってしまいました｡｡｡ 物事知ると楽しみも増える。最近ウォーキング中は「何でも見よう！いろいろ知ろう！」ときょろきょろ。挙動不審ですね（笑）。

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White, Pink and Red Cape Periwinkles 白、ピンク、赤の日日草

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

I like colors. I like color combinations. So, naturally, I like these bicolor cape periwinkles or Madagascar periwinkles.

Pale purple cape periwinkle with dark purple eye
濃淡紫の日日草

Also called "Madagascar periwinkle"
Baby pink petals with pale pink eye 
濃淡ピンク

Pale pink petals with bright pink eye 
別の濃淡ピンク

White petals with yellow eye 白と黄色

White petals with red eye 紅白

Dark red petals with white eye 濃い赤と白

Red petals with red eye 真っ赤っか

In Japan, cape periwinkle is called "daily plants" because it flowers every day from early summer to late autumn. I'm happy that I can enjoy such a beautiful flower through autumn!

There is another thing which shouldn't be forgotten and which makes this flower prettier... Green leaves! A single color is beautiful, but a bicolor flower combined with the green leaves makes the flower look far prettier and more conspicuous. Diversity matters to not only people but flowers😆!

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日日草です。初夏から晩秋まで次々咲くので「日日草」。ということは秋まで楽しめるんですね！

色が豊富です。白、黄、濃淡ピンク、濃淡赤。そしてその組み合わせが葉の緑と相まってファンになってしまいました。ダイバーシティ（多様性）、人だけでなく花にも大切です😆！

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Verbenas & Lantanas Look Same😅 - Seven Bicolor/Tricolor Ones バーベナとランタナがもう分からない😅

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

I like small flowers. I like colorful flowers. This makes me like small and colorful flowers so much!!! The first one is my favorite because of the shape of the buds, which look like stars!!　

Star-like buds - red, orange and pink   
星形のつぼみ -  赤、オレンジ、ピンク

White and yellow 白と黄色

White, yellow, orange and pink
白、黄色、オレンジ、ピンク

Red, orange and yellow 赤、オレンジ、黄色

White, yellow and green 白、黄、緑

Yellow and pale green 黄と緑

Two yellow colors 黄色２種

To tell you the truth, I have given up on differentiating verbenas and lantanas because I don't think lay persons like me can tell which one is which. According to SFGATE, ".... Because of their similar characteristics, they’re often confused as the same plant..... Lantana and verbena appear similar, but they have different hardiness zones, growth habits and toxicity levels."

Okay, they are different in hardiness zones, growth habits and toxicity levels, but with only these, I can't make distinctions. I need more, like differences easy to see, such as differences in the color or shape of petals or leaves, but I couldn't find them, which made me give up on differentiating these two... 

I can't tell which one is which, but can tell what they have in common! They are both small, colorful and pretty! That's why I love them both❤️!

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白状します。バーベナとランタナ。もう分かりません。あるサイトによると耐寒性、生育習性、毒性基準が異なるそうです。でもそれだけじゃわからな～い。花びらや葉っぱの形とか、私のような素人にもわかるような見分け方を教えてほしい～！ でも見つらない｡｡｡ で、諦めました🙇

でもね、どっちもちっちゃくてきれい！ だからどっちも好きっていうことでお許しください（笑）

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