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)

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）

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

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

Watermelon (Citrullus Lanatus) スイカ（西瓜）

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Native to Central Asia, watermelons can now be found and eaten all across Japan. It's said that they first arrived here in the mid-17th century via China. The pictures in this post were all taken in my neighborhood – Central Tokyo. A morning walk in August is exhausting, but finding these mini watermelons is so refreshing!

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）