Winter Buds of Enkianthus Perulatus (White Enkianthus) 灯台躑躅（ドウダンツツジ）の冬芽

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

You think they're flower buds of some plants? If you do, you're wrong as I was😆!

I found these tiny (i.e., less than 1 cm tall) capsule shaped red things two weeks ago in the garden of the Parliamentary Museum in Tokyo. I thought they were some flower buds, so I googled them using the keywords "red," "flower," "bud," "tiny," and "winter," but couldn't identify them. So, a week later, I went to the garden again, then found a tree tag "enkianthus perulatus" on one of the shrubs (the last photo). The enkianthus perulatus is commonly called "white enkianthus." 

But another question came up. The flowers of enkianthus perulatus are white, not red. So, I googled again and learned what I found in the garden weren't "flower" buds but "winter" buds. A winter bud is a dormant plant bud enclosed in a protective covering which enables it to survive during the winter (Lexico). In short, winter buds are the buds of not only flowers, but also leaves and twigs. Now I'm thinking about when to go to the garden again to see how they grow😊.   

Winter buds of enkianthus perulatus on January 15  灯台躑躅の冬芽

Many winter buds of white enkianthus on January 15 トウダイツツジの冬芽

January 22

The tag says "enkianthus perulatus" 

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何かお分かりですか？2週間前に憲政記念館で見かけ、何か分からず「赤」、「花」、「蕾」、「冬」などいろいろなキーワードで検索したのですがやはり見つけられず、翌週再度公園に行って立札（最後の写真）を発見して分かった、灯台躑躅（ドウダンツツジ）です！

でも新たな問題が！ドウダンツツジの花って確か白かったはず！そこでもう一度ググったところ、これは「蕾」ではなく「冬芽（葉、花、枝になる芽が小さくまとまったもの）」だということを知りました。「冬芽」なんて初耳。次いつ、また見に行こうかと考え中です😊！

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