Plants and Flowers in Tokyo by Kei Narujima　　東京の草花

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus Praecox)　ソシンロウバイ（蘇秦蝋梅）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It was a surprise to me to see wintersweet starting to bloom but it was because I didn't know it flowers from November to February. The tree has just started to bloom, so looking for these buds and flowers to take pictures was like playing hide and seek with them.

2024/12/22

Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia)　山茶花（サザンカ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Camellia, camellia, camellia! It’s my first time to see such big camellia sasanqua trees (4th photo) and my second time to see a camellia sasanqua tree having so many flowers! As you may know, the flowers of the sasanqua camellia and those of the Japanese camellia resemble each other but they're different in several ways, one of which is how a flower dies. A sasanqua flower dies with petals falling off one by one while a Japanese camellia flower falls off in its entirety.

2024/12/20

Kenilworth Ivy (Cymbalaria Muralis)　ツタバウンラン（蔦葉海蘭）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Our eyes met (or so I thought!). The kenilworth ivy (Cymbalaria muralis) is so hardy (or invasive?) that it still flowers in Tokyo. The plant usually flowers from March to August in Japan.

2024/12/28

Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia Sinensis)　カリン（花梨）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found these Chinese quince fruits (2nd photo) on the ground while on an early morning walk, took them home, and made jam! It sounds so simple but it wasn't because I had to go through certain "procedures" to make the jam!

First, I made sure that the garden where the Chinese quince trees grew was a public garden and then asked a man cleaning the garden if there were any specific procedures to go through to have the fruits. He said that there were no such procedures and that people just took them. He even told me that there were Chinese quince trees growing in another public garden nearby and the trees there must have many fruits. Wow!

You may wonder why I was such cautious but there's a reason for that. Some gardens in my neighborhood look public but actually are not and sometimes have "Don't pick fruit!" signs out of the blue. But now I've been cleared. I can get as many quinces as possible to make jam!

A week later, I happened to see him again, so I said thank you and he asked me if I was able to get the fruits. Of course I answered, "Yes I did and I made jam!" He was smiling and I was smiling, too. It was a very nice day!!

Chinese quince jam has a tart taste, so I added more sugar than when making other jam and it worked. The jam is sweet but also mildly sour, going well with yogurt. The Chinese quince is good for your health, i.e., decreasing bacterial growth, improving heart health, healing wounds faster, and relieving constipation. And you know what? Just looking at such beautiful orange color jam makes you happy!

If you're interested in pink Chinese quince flowers, scroll down.

2024/12/16 It's not sea urchin!!

December 2024

East Asian Eurya (Eurya Japonica)　姫榊（ヒサカキ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are flowers of East Asian eurya (Eurya japonica). In Japan, the East Asian eurya is used for Shinto rituals. It's understandable that their flower language in Japan is "Respect deities."

2024/3/24

Maple Leaves in Autumn　もみじの紅葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Some leaves are still green but that makes the perfect color contrast between gradients from green to yellow, orange and red, and the clear blue sky.

Wax-Leaf Privet (Ligustrum Japonicum)　ネズミモチ（鼠糯）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Small oval shaped green fruits that caught my eye in October (3rd to 5th photos) have turned black. They're fruits of wax-leaf privet tree (Ligustrum japonicum) and used in herbal medicine. The tree is called "nezumi mochi," meaning "mouse mochi" because the fruit looks like mouse droppings and the leaves resemble those of the mochi tree or the elegance female holly (Ilex integra). The origin of the name made me want a bit to see mouse droppings.

2024/12/13

Burning Bush (Euonymus Alatus)　ニシキギ（錦木）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The deep bright red color caught my eye. They're burning bush (Euonymus alatus). As the name suggests, the leaves look really "burning." The burning bush is called "nishiki gi" in Japanese, which means "brocade tree," after such beautiful red color of the leaves like brocade in autumn. The season of autumn leaves in Tokyo is nearing the end with still remaining leaves on a few trees like this.

2024/12/12

Aloe　アロエ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Aloe flowers have started to open. I've been enjoying seeing them grow every morning. So far, I've resisted the urge to google pictures of the fully open flowers successfully. You sometimes need to be patient to fully enjoy something, don't you😉?

2024/12/11

Autumn Leaves - Their Way of Turning Red　紅葉してますけどそれが何か？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I was doing jump rope and squats in a small park nearby this morning as usual, turned around, saw this, and murmured, "What the hell?," and then burst out laughing! Autumn leaves usually make me say "Wow" with their magnificent color gradients, but this vine of leaves caught my eye with not the bright red color but their way of being! Every leaf has their own way of turning red.

Hamilton's Spindletree (Euonymus Hamiltonianus)　マユミ（檀）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The arils of Hamilton's spindletree (Euonymus hamiltonianus) have dropped one after another. Its four-lobed pink fruit capsules and the bright red arils in the capsules were so adorable (3rd photo) that looking at empty capsules made me feel a bit sad.

I've been observing Hamilton's spindletree fruits turning from green to pink and then splitting open to reveal the red arils since late September. My next task😆 is to see its beautiful pale green flowers, which I've never seen, from spring to early summer next year.

A good thing about photographing plants is to make people talkative. When I was photographing the fruits in September, two women approached me asking what they were. I said they were the fruits of Hamilton's spindletree but the women insisted they should not be fruits but buds to flower soon. It was fun talking with strangers about little things.

2024/12/9

Chrysanthemum　キク（菊）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found these chrysanthemums at a bus stop. There were only two but their bright contrast between the red ray florets and the yellow disk florets caught my eye.

Chrysanthemums are special in Japan. The Imperial Seal of Japan is called the Chrysanthemum Seal and used by the Emperor of Japan and members of the Imperial Family. But for me, the flowers are special in a different way, i.e., always reminding me of "The Inugami Clan," a murder mystery book by Seishi Yokomizo (1902-1981), one of the most famous crime authors in Japan who created the private detective character Kosuke Kindaichi.

You may wonder how chrysanthemums, such beautiful flowers, are related to a crime novel. That's because they play a key role in "The Inugami Clan" as one of the three sacred treasures for the clan, i.e., a golden chrysanthemum, a golden axe, and a golden koto or Japanese harp made by Sahee Inugami, the super-rich head of the family. These golden treasures were proof of heirship, and you can easily guess, the family members are killed one after another over this heirship and the head of a victim is replaced with the head of a chrysanthemum doll... AHHH😱

I read almost all the books by Seishi Yokomizo when I was a kid. (I was a bit different from other kids.) Yokomizo respected Ellery Queen and Agatha Christie, but liked John Dickson Carr the most. If you like reading crime books, you can guess what Yokomizo's stories are like.

Chrysanthemums are pretty, colorful flowers, having nothing to do with bloody murders. Maybe it's time for me to change this terrible perception of chrysanthemums.

Large Pyracantha (Firethorn) Tree　大きな常盤山査子（ピラカンサ）の木

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is a pyracantha or more commonly firethorn tree. The tree, which is about 3 meter high, grows next to a police station within the premises of the Imperial Palace. The tree is big for a firethorn but not as big as the tree I saw three years ago (4th to 6th photos). The tree was about 5 or 6 meter, definitely different from "normal" firethorns I've ever seen.

Speaking of "normal," Japanese people love to be "normal," which means to be the same as others. People in Japan are afraid of being different because being different isn't "normal" in Japan. So, they don't talk about differences but try to accommodate the differences by changing themselves or others to make everyone in harmony. This sometimes does good while other times not. According to a Japanese author and psychiatrist Otohiko Kaga, some Japanese develop schizophrenia for fear of being different as opposed to French people, who may develop schizophrenia for fear of being the same as others.

The area where the firethorn in the 4th to 6th photos grew was redeveloped, and the tree was removed.

2024/12/6

Heart-Shaped Yellow Leaves　ハート形の黄葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

One or two may not have caught my eye but that many hearts did and made me smile.

Toad Lily (Tricyrtis Formosana)　タイワンホトトギス（台湾杜鵑草）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I didn't expect to see toad lilies (Tricyrtis formosana) in December. The plant is named after spots on a toad's skin and its preference of shady, moist places like toads. In Japan, however, the toad lily is called "lesser cuckoo" also after its spots, which, to Japanese people, look like the chest plumage of the bird. Perception varies.

Winter/October Cherry (Cerasus Subhirtella)　フユザクラ（冬桜）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

If you're in Japan at this time of year and want to see cherry blossoms, go to Ginza! These are cherry blossoms that bloom as the name suggests in winter or from October to December (Cerasus subhirtella) and that's why they're called "winter cherry" or "October cherry" blossoms.

Some of those passing by the tree said that the cherry tree was stupid, blooming out of season. I said in my mind "It's you who are stupid😝."

Autumn Golden Ginkgo Leaves　銀杏の黄葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Many trees currently show red or yellow leaves in Tokyo but the ginkgo tree is special for its golden leaves, especially today for their magnificent beauty against the blue sky.

Fall Foliage　紅葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Yesterday, I enjoyed magnificent gradations from green to red and today gradations from green to yellow. Interestingly, in Japan, the change in the color of leaves in autumn is called "koyo," which literally means "red leaves" whether they turn red or yellow. So, these yellow leaves are in Japanese "koyo," i.e., red leaves😆.

Autumn Leaves in Japan　紅葉

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The fall foliage season is getting later and later in Japan and many trees in my neighborhood still have green leaves, but this tree has got a head start over its peers. Red leaves are beautiful but leaves just before turning completely red create magnificent gradations from green to red.

Amur Peppervine (Ampelopsis Glandulosa)　ノブドウ（野葡萄）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found them on a roadside (2nd photo) and had never seen such turquoise blue fruits. These are fruits of Amur peppervine (Ampelopsis glandulosa). The Amur peppervine produces green, blue, purple, pink and yellow fruits with black or brown speckles. I saw blue and purple ones, so the next thing to do is to find pink and yellow Amur peppervine fruits.

Moonflower (Ipomoe Alba)　ヨルガオ（夜顔）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I said "Wow" and you would say so, too if you saw them. These are fruits of moonflowers (Ipomoea alba) but they look like small eggplants🍆, don't they!? Just three weeks ago, the plant gave pleasure to the eye of passerby with elegantly gorgeous large white flowers (2nd photo) while now surprising them with these small eggplant-like fruits.

The question was of course if they were edible and sadly I found moonflowers toxic in their entirety from flowers, to stems, seeds, and fruits.

When I saw the flowers for the first time, I thought they were some morning glories but didn't know their specific type but an Instagram follower told me they were moonflowers (Ipomoea alba), which made sense to me because the flowers are like the Moon and open at night. I saw them only closed or half open in the morning (5th and 6th photos).

In Japan, morning glories are broadly classified into the following three types according to the time when they open: asagao, hirugao, and yorugao, meaning "MORNING face (i.e., Ipomoea)," "AFTERNOON face (i.e., Japanese bindweed)," and "NIGHT face (i.e., moonflowers)" respectively.

But that's not it. Japan has a plant called "EVENING face," which is actually the calabash, but because of the resemblance of the flower to morning glories, the calabash is called "EVENING face" and its dried shavings of the fruit are eaten under the name of "kanpyo," which is an ingredient of SUSHI😋!!

2024/11/23

2024/11/1

登録: 投稿 (Atom)