Tall Stewartia (Stewartia Monadelpha) ヒメシャラ（姫沙羅）

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These are fruits of a tall stewartia tree (Stewartia monadelpha). I found them today, which means that I missed seeing the flowers. Tall stewartia trees flower from May to August. The flowers resemble camellias. I have to wait for a year to see them. 

Tall stewartia (Stewartia monadelpha)　ヒメシャラ（姫沙羅）

Bamboo-Leaf Oak (Quercus Myrsinifolia) シラカシ（白樫）

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It's starting to feel like autumn is coming these days. A bamboo-leaf oak tree (Quercus myrsinifolia) has started to have baby acorns.

Bamboo-leaf oak (Quercus myrsinifolia)　シラカシ（白樫）

American Black Nightshade (Solanum Americanum) カンザシイヌホオズキ（簪犬酸漿）

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Revised on 29 August 2024

I initially published this post a couple of days ago and since then something's been bothering me. These fruits grow upward while the fruits on the black nightshades I saw other times all grew downward. That made me wonder if these are really black nightshade. I did research and learned they were black nightshade, but the American one, i.e., American black nightshade (Solanum americanum).  

Its Japanese name is kanzashi black nightshade after the fruits being shaped like "kanzashi," i.e., hair ornaments like barrettes used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. 

Initially published on 27 August

I've seen flowers and fruits of black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) many times but didn't remember the fruits were translucent (2nd and 3rd photos). The green ones are like jade, aren't they? 

American black nightshade (Solanum americanum)　カンザシイヌホオズキ

The fruits grow upward　実が上向き

Lippia (Phyla Canescens) ヒメイワダレソウ（姫岩垂草）

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Small white flowers cover an area of a nearby park I walk through every morning, which made me wonder what they were. They're lippia (Phyla canescens). The flowers are 1cm in diameter. It's still hot in Japan but I feel like autumn is approaching these days in the early morning. Until last year, I stopped taking a morning walk for the couple of hottest weeks in August but this year I didn't.   

ヒメイワダレソウ（姫岩垂草）Lippia (Phyla canescens)

Bitter Gourd (Momordica Charantia) ゴーヤ（苦瓜）

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It was my first time seeing baby bitter gourds (Momordica charantia) this year. The gourds are growing on the wall of a house (not mine😂) in Central Tokyo.

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia)　ゴーヤ（苦瓜）

Green Carpetweed (Mollugo Verticillata) クルマバザクロソウ（車葉柘榴草）

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There's something I can't disregard no matter how busy I am. These are green carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata) and I can't dismiss such tiny plants. You can see how tiny the flowers are by comparing them with a 100 yen coin with 22.6mm in diameter. They seem to have five petals, but they're actually calyxes. Despite their innocent appearance, the green carpetweed is very hardy and invasive. 

Green carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata) クルマバザクロソウ（車葉柘榴草）

Pink Pavonia (Pavonia Hastata) ミニフヨウ（ミニ芙蓉、矢の根梵天花）

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Thanks to the torrential rain a few days ago, the pink pavonia (Pavonia hastata) has produced flowers. The translucent petals (2nd photo) were beautiful against the deep green leaves. 

Pink pavonia (Pavonia hastata)　ミニフヨウ（ミニ芙蓉、矢の根梵天花）

Plantpot dapperling (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) コガネキヌカラカサタケ （黄金絹唐傘茸）

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The weather is very hot, humid and unstable this summer in Japan. Torrential rain fell last night in Tokyo, causing flooding in some areas and affecting the public transportation system. Well, rain, especially heavy rain, does no good to people living in cities, but for mushrooms, rain is a blessing. These are (I believe) plantpot dapperling (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii).

They're beautiful cream yellow (see the 2nd and 3rd photos) and pretty big, like 8cm in diameter (see the 1st photo to compare with a 100 yen coin with 22.6mm in diameter). The mushroom lives only for 1 to 3 days, so they should be gone tomorrow. 

Plantpot dapperling (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii)　コガネキヌカラカサタケ （黄金絹唐傘茸）

Another smaller one　2個目は少し小さ目

Queen Coralbead (Cocculus Trilobus) アオツヅラフジ（青葛藤）

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I saw these flowers but assumed they were Abelias because they're among Abelia flowers. But these are much tinier than Abelias (see the 3rd photo) and their shape is different. They're queen coralbead (Cocculus trilobus). In autumn, the queen coralbead produces green fruits which turn deep purple like smaller blueberries but are toxic. 

Queen coralbead (Cocculus trilobus)　アオツヅラフジ（青葛藤）

A Common Straight Swift on Bushkiller イチモンジセセリとヤブガラシ

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I see common straight swifts (Parnara guttata) every day these days, one day on a street and on another on a watermelon flower and today on bushkiller (Causonis japonica). A good thing about common straight swifts is that they're less agile than other butterflies. This common straight swift is not an exception, resting on bushkiller for a while, giving me plenty of time to photograph.   

Snails カタツムリ

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It was my first time seeing snails this year. Snails can be seen in many places in Japan during the rainy season (i.e., mid-June to mid-July) but this year I saw none at that time but found many this morning. Both are about 1cm long, so tiny and so cute!  

Snail　カタツムリ

A Pale Grass Blue Posing on Golden Dewdrop デュランタでポージングする大和小灰蝶

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A beautiful color contrast between the pale purple flowers and the orange fruits caught my eye. Golden dewdrops (Duranta erecta) in my neighborhood have started to fruit. Luckily, a pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) landed on a flower, posing for photos.

A pale grass blue posing on golden dewdrop　デュランタでポージングするヤマトシジミ

Watermelon (Citrullus Lanatus) スイカ（西瓜）

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Honestly, I don't feel like taking a morning walk these days because it's so hot that I can't expect to find any plants for this blog. But I still go out for a walk because almost every day something unexpected happens like this morning I've found these MINI watermelons🍉!!

You can see how MINI by comparing them with a JPY100 coin, 22.6mm in diameter. They're mini but ripe, i.e., having stripes! I also found a leftover watermelon (2nd photo) of a bird or a mouse(?). The 4th photo shows a watermelon still in the process of growing. It's not round in the beginning.   

A mini watermelon　ミニスイカ

A leftover　食べかけスイカ

Bottlebrush (Callistemon) ブラシノキ（金宝樹）

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The bottlebrush (Callistemon) usually flowers from May to July, so finding these was a happy surprise. The fully bloomed flowers look like brushes as the name suggests while the flowers that start to open (in these photos) are like tangled yarn balls.

Bottlebrush (Callistemon)　ブラシノキ（金宝樹）

Pink and White Bush Clovers (Lespedeza Buergeri) キハギ（木萩）

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I've seen the pink ones and also the white ones but never the pink and white ones. They're bush clovers (Lespedeza buergeri). It's a bit early for lespedeza to flower, but this lespedeza is a type that flowers the earliest.  

Bush clover (Lespedeza)　ハギ（萩）

Open or Closed? - Wings of Common Straight Swift 広げるの、閉じるの？イチモンジセセリの羽

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Common straight swifts (Parnara guttata) usually fold wings when resting like the one in the 2nd photo but I found one with open wings today, so I've posted these four photos on this blog for comparison purposes. By the way, I always think the eyes of a common straight swift look like those of a squirrel🐿️.   

Common straight swift with open wings　羽を広げたイチモンジセセリ

Common straight swift with closed wings　羽を閉じたイチモンジセセリ

Asian bluetail (Ischnura asiatica) アジアイトトンボ（亜細亜糸蜻蛉）

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This is the only clear shot out of a dozen I took this morning because it's too thin for my compact camera to focus on and easily blown away by the wind. It's an Asian bluetail (Ischnura asiatica). The bright blue tip of the tail is so beautiful. The weather is still extremely hot and humid in Japan but I sometimes sense the end of summer while on an early morning walk these days.

Asian bluetail (Ischnura asiatica)　アジアイトトンボ（亜細亜糸蜻蛉）

Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria Maha) 大和小灰蝶（ヤマトシジミ）

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This is a pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) and you may wonder why it's called "pale grass BLUE." The reason is the upper side of the male is beautiful pale blue, which I saw once. I waited for the butterfly to open the wings to find out whether it was a male or a female and if it was a male, to photograph the beautiful upper side, but it just flew away. 

Pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha)　ヤマトシジミ（大和小灰蝶）

Female Watermelon Flowers and Common Straight Swift スイカ（西瓜）と一文字セセリ

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I'm very happy I was wrong😆. Today, I found a couple of female flowers and baby watermelons🍉!! A few days ago, I found watermelon flowers but at that time only the male ones. I had hope however that I might be able to see the female ones, so kept observing them and voila!! This morning, I found a few female flowers plus a common straight swift (Parnara guttata) on one of them 𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅯 (3rd photo)!

As you see, the watermelon is dioecious, i.e., male and female flowers growing on a single plant (2nd photo). And unlike bitter gourds, which are also in the gourd family as watermelons are, it's very difficult to tell the male from the female only based on their appearances without looking at the back of the flowers where a fruit grows. Bitter gourd female flowers have yellow green centers (whereas a watermelon has a yellow center; see the 4th photo). From today on, I'll keep watching the growth of these baby watermelons!!! 

A watermelon female flower　スイカの雌花

A female (left) and a male flowers　雌花（左）と雄花

A common straight swift on a male flower　雄花の上に一文字セセリ到来

A female watermelon flower　スイカの雌花は花芯が黄色

Jerusalem Cherry (Solanum Pseudocapsicum) タマサンゴ（玉珊瑚）

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These are flowers and fruits of Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum). The flowers resemble those of black nightshade (although the fruits do not). The Jerusalem cherry is called "Tama sango" in Japanese, meaning "ball coral" after the fruit shape and it being as beautiful as coral. The fruit is inedible, i.e., poisonous as other plants in the Solanum family, but pleases your eyes with the color change until December. 

Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum)　タマサンゴ（玉珊瑚）