Chinese Bayberry (Myrica Rubra) 山桃（ヤマモモ）

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

Chinese bayberry trees (Myrica rubra) in my neighborhood have started to bloom. They produce fruits from June to July. I'm already looking forward to it! 

Chinese bayberry (Myrica rubra)　ヤマモモ（山桃）

Purple Coral Pea (Hardenbergia) ハーデンベルギア

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

About two weeks ago, I wrote about purple coral pea (Hardenbergia) flower buds. At that time, the owner said many times that the flowers were beautiful when in bloom, asking me to come to her house again. I didn't doubt her but didn't expect that much. But when visiting her house again, I was surprised! The flowers were really beautiful in terms of both color and shape. 

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia)　ハーデンベルギア

 

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as"!)

2週間ほど前にハーデンベルギアの蕾について書きました。その時、友人が花はきれいだよと何度も何度も言ってました。別に疑ってはいませんでしたが、実際見てびっくり。色も形も本当に綺麗！

(Google アカウントを持ってない方は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)

Oriental Paperbush (Edgeworthia Chrysantha) ミツマタ（三椏）

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

Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) has started to bloom. It was raining and cold that day, so finding the yellow blooms, which are actually sepals, made me smile!

Oriental paperbush is in the same family as winter daphne (i.e., the Thymelaeaceae family), which makes sense. Their bud shapes resemble each other.

Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)　ミツマタ（三椏）

Japanese Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis Japonica) マンサク（満作）

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

These are flowers on a Japanese witch-hazel tree (Hamamelis japonica). It rained and was cold yesterday in Tokyo and the sky was grey. So these beautiful yellow and red flowers caught my eye instantly. The yellow parts are flowers and the red parts are sepals. 

Japanese witch-hazel (Hamamelis japonica)　マンサク（満作）

Winter Daphne (Daphne Odora) 沈丁花（ジンチョウゲ）

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

Winter daphne (Daphne odora) has started to bloom. The flowers in the pictures are pink and white, but the pink is the color while the flowers are in bud, opening white. Daphne flowers are fragrant and the thing is now I couldn't smell much because of allergy. 

Winter daphne (Daphne odora)　沈丁花（ジンチョウゲ）

White Japanese Camellia (White Camellia Japonica) 白ツバキ（椿）

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

These are white Japanese camellias (Camellia japonica). Pink Japanese camellias can be seen in many places, but not white ones. I like both, but the white ones in particular for their stark contrast between the white petals and the long yellow stamens. 

White Japanese camellia (white camellia japonica)　白ツバキ（椿）

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as"!)

白椿です。ピンクはよく見かけますが白はうちの周りでは少ないです。ピンクも白も好きですが、白い椿の白と黄色（雄しべ）のコントラスト、大好きです。

(Google アカウントを持ってない方は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)

Vicia Sativa (Common Vetch) ヤハズノエンドウ

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

Three days ago, it was very warm in Tokyo, like May, while today the weather is back to winter. The temperature at 1 p.m. was 3 degrees Celsius. Such a drastic change has affected plants including these common vetches. Many common vetches have grown but due to the cold rain, the flowers were all closed, but their purple color was so beautiful that I couldn't help but stop to photograph them in the rain. 

Common vetch (Vicia sativa)　カラスノエンドウ

 

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as"!)

今日の東京は真冬に逆戻り。せっかく生えたヤハズノエンドウもこの悪天候で花は全部閉じていました。でも閉じていても色はとってもきれい。雨の中立ち止まって写真を撮りました。

(Google アカウントを持ってない方は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)

Persian Speedwell (Veronica Persica) オオイヌノフグリ（大犬の陰嚢）

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

These blue flowers are Persian speedwell (Veronica persica). They're so tiny, as small as lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium), which is called in Japanese "rice grain clover."

Japan has at least the following three speedwells, all of which have terrible Japanese names:

• Veronica polita or grey field-speedwell, whose Japanese name is "Dog balls"
• Veronica persica or Persian speedwell, "Large dog balls"
• Veronica arvensis or corn speedwell, "Standing dog balls"

Tomitaro Makino, a Japanese botanist, is responsible. He named grey field speedwell "Dog balls" because, according to him, the fruits look like the balls of a dog and because of that, Persian speedwell, which is a little larger than grey field speedwell, "Large dog balls" and then corn speedwell "Standing dog balls" because it stands upright unlike grey field speedwell covering the ground.

Persian speedwell (Veronica persica)　オオイヌノフグリ（大犬の陰嚢）

Two Pink Plum Blossoms on a White Plum Tree 源平咲きの梅

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

This is a Japanese plum tree (Prunus mume) with a few pink flowers. I said a few because the rest are all white. Scientifically, there's no white plum tree. Red plum trees have white flowers when they cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red (or pink). I remember this tree having more pink flowers last year, so I've been waiting for it to bloom but this year, the tree seems to have been able to produce enough anthocyanins to have only a couple of pink flowers...

Pink plum blossoms are gorgeous but these pink ones among white blossoms are not that bad, are they? 

  

White and pink plum blossoms on a tree　源平咲きの梅

(If you wish to post your comment but don't have a Google account, select "anonymous" from the drop down menu titled "comment as"!)

近所の梅です。去年は確か紅梅をつけていたので楽しみにしていたのですが、今年は紅梅は2、3個。十分なアントシアニンを作れなかったようです。紅梅は白梅より豪華ですが、こんな風に白梅に囲まれたピンクもなかなかでは。

ちなみに白梅の木は存在しないんです。ご興味ある方はこちらのサイトをどうぞ！

(Google アカウントを持ってない方は、コメント記入後に「Google アカウント」をクリックし、「匿名」か「名前/URL」を選択してからご記入ください！)

Kawazu-Cherry Blossoms (Cerasus Lannesiana) 河津桜

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

It was a great surprise to see these cherry blossoms! They're Kawazu-zakura blossoms (Cerasus lannesiana), one of the earliest blooming cherry trees and my first cherry blossoms this year. I didn't notice them last week, so they've become like these for the last several days. 

Kawazu-cherry blossoms (Cerasus lannesiana)　河津桜

Hairy Grey Heather (Erica Canaliculata) ジャノメエリカ

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

These tiny flowers caught my eye a few days ago and this afternoon I was able to photograph them. They're flowers of the hairy grey heather (Erica canaliculata). The plant's Japanese name is "snake eye Erica." If you want to know why, take a look at the second photo!

Hairy grey heather (Erica canaliculata)　ジャノメエリカ

Cucumber Herb (Trigonotis Peduncularis) 胡瓜草（キュウリグサ）

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

Yesterday, I posted a blog about henbit deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule), a zasso, i.e., a miscellaneous plant in Japanese. Then, this morning, I found another zasso, cucumber herb (Trigonotis peduncularis). Its flowers are so tiny, 0.2 - 0.3 cm in diameter.

Cucumber herb (Trigonotis peduncularis)　胡瓜草（キュウリグサ）

Henbit Deadnettle (Lamium Amplexicaule) ホトケノザ（仏の座）

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

These are henbit deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule), one of my favorite plants and the first ones I've seen this season! Small plants and flowers, including henbit deadnettle, are underappreciated in Japan. They're called "zasso" in Japanese, which means miscellaneous plants. But I love them and am looking forward to many other "miscellaneous" plants flowering soon.  

Henbit deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule)　ホトケノザ（仏の座

Purple Coral Pea (Hardenbergia) ハーデンベルギア

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

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia) has started to bud. I'd heard a lot about the plant from a friend of mine but never seen the flowers, so I was surprised at the pretty pink when seeing them for the first time at her house. Now I'm looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. 

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia)　ハーデンベルギア

Trailing Abutilon (Abutilon Megapotamicum) ウキツリボク（浮釣木、チロリアンランプ）

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

Their bright red and yellow contrast caught my eye. They are trailing abutilon (Abutilon megapotamicum). The plant is indigenous to Brazil but is called "Tyrolean lamp" and grown across Japan. I googled "Tyrolean lamp" and "Tyrolean lantern" to see if the flower really looks like the lantern, but I couldn't find one that looks like the flower. 

Trailing abutilon　ウキツリボク（浮釣木）

Abutilon megapotamicum　チロリアンランプ

Chinaberry (Melia Azedarach) センダン（栴檀）

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

These are fruits on a chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach). I paid attention to the tree because a bird on it was holding something in its mouth. Yes. That was a chinaberry fruit. I tried to photograph it but in vain. The bird flew away into the blue sky with its breakfast.  

Chinaberry (Melia azedarach)　センダン（栴檀）

Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium Dubium) コメツブツメクサ（米粒詰草）

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

It's still cold in Japan but the lesser trefoil flowers (Trifolium dubium) made me realize that spring was approaching. They're so tiny, the size of a rice grain as suggested by its Japanese name "rice grain clover." 

Lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium)　コメツブツメクサ（米粒詰草）

They're as small as rice grains　米粒ぐらい小っちゃい

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles Speciosa) ボケ（木瓜）

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

It snowed heavily in Tokyo last weekend, so I didn't go out. Then yesterday, while taking an early morning walk, I found flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) starting to produce buds. The temperature was 2°C, still low for Tokyo, but the bright red buds made me feel a little warm. 

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)　ボケ（木瓜）

Blue Sky After Snowfall 雪の後の青空

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

It snowed heavily in Tokyo yesterday and the day before (I mean heavily for Tokyo!), so I didn't go out for the two days. This morning, the temperature was 2°C (which is very low for Tokyo) and the air was cold but the winter cherry blossoms, which have survived the snow, were so beautiful against the clear blue sky.  

Winter cherry against blue sky　青空と冬桜

Hula Headdress? フラダンスの髪飾り？

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

It had only one flower but now has more than several flowers, which makes it look like the head of a hula dancer wearing a headdress! 

Japanese Laurel (Aucuba Japonica) 青木（アオキ）

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

It started to snow yesterday in early morning and stopped before noon. Then, I found these bright red Japanese laurel fruits (Aucuba japonica) with water drops peeking from under the variegated leaves.   

Japanese laurel (Aucuba japonica)　青木（アオキ）

Oriental Paperbush (Edgeworthia Chrysantha) ミツマタ（三椏）

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

These are buds of Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha). It was a bit early to see the full blooms, but I found a bud that has started to bloom, showing yellow sepals (not petals!; 3rd photo). 

As suggested by the name, Oriental paperbush is used in Japan to make bank notes and depreciates over a useful life of five years under corporate tax law!  

Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)　ミツマタ（三椏）

A bud starting to bloom　咲き始め