A "Drunken" Confederate Rose and A Drunken Guy 酔芙蓉と酔っ払い

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are photos of Confederate roses (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor) taken at 10:00, 12:30, and 16:30, and at 5:30 on the following morning. Because of such a color change from pure white in the morning to pink in the afternoon, this type of Confederate roses is called "Drunken Confederate rose" in Japan.

These Confederate roses grow at a nearby park. That day, at around 16:20, on my way to photograph them, I passed by a guy in his 30s sitting on a bench in the park and talking on the phone. I wasn't listening to him but as he was speaking so loudly that I couldn't help but overhear him saying he loved both speed and something and blah blah blah. Then on my way back home at 16:40, I passed by him again seeing him shouting on the phone, "Oh, right! You're totally correct!!!" and then drinking directly from a whiskey bottle, which made me realize that he was completely DRUNK like the "Drunken" Confederate rose in the third photo. I shouted, "YOU'RE TOTALLY WRONG!!" not loud but to myself...

Taken at 10:00

At 12:30

Completely drunk at 16:30　完全なる酔っ払い

Common Straight Swift (Parnara guttata) イチモンジセセリ（一文字挵）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Butterflies usually fold wings when resting as opposed to moths, which rest generally with open wings. Common straight swifts (Parnara guttata) are butterflies but they sometimes rest with open wings likely to absorb the warmth of the sun like in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th photos. 

The butterflies are called "ichimonji seseri" in Japanese, meaning "straight line skipper" after their white spots in a straight line while small branded swifts (Pelopidas mathias), which have white spots in a circle, are called "chabane seseri," meaning "brown wing skipper."   

With open wings　羽を広げたイチモンジセセリ

Confederate Rose (Hibiscus Mutabilis Cv. Versicolor) スイフヨウ（酔芙蓉）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are Confederate roses (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor). They're different from usual ones (Hibiscus mutabilis). The former Confederate rose, which is double flowered, produces white flowers in the morning, turns pink in the afternoon and then dark pink in the following morning (3rd photo), and withers away. Because of such a color change, the Confederate rose (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor) is called "Drunken Confederate rose" in Japan. My next mission is to go there in the afternoon to see the flowers in pink. 

Confederate rose (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor)　スイフヨウ（酔芙蓉）

With a common straight swift　イチモンジセセリと一緒

Before withering away　萎む前

Sawfly ハバチ（羽蜂）

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The orange, blue, and pink colors (2nd photo) and then the small but bright orange and black bug on a green leaf caught my eye. 

Sawfly　ハバチ（羽蜂）

Lycoris Albiflora (White Spider Lily) 白花曼殊沙華（シロバナマンジュシャゲ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are white spider lilies. A white spider lily is not a sibling of a red one, but a cross-breed of a red and a yellow (i.e., lycoris traubii) spider lilies. It's interesting that a child of a red and a yellow flowers is white.

A red spider lily is called "autumnal equinox flower" or "heaven or hell flower" in Japanese while a yellow spider lily "Zhong Kui lily" as its petals look like the beard of Zhong Kui, a demon hunter and Chinese deity who fights ghosts. 

In Japan, because of their toxicity, spider lilies were planted around graveyards to keep moles and other animals away from buried bodies but were also used to induce abortion.

Lycoris albiflora 白花曼殊沙華

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白花曼殊沙華です。赤い曼殊沙華の兄弟かと思ったらそうではなくて、赤い曼殊沙華と黄色の鍾馗水仙（リコリス）の自然雑種です。

鍾馗水仙（リコリス）の「鍾馗」は、花弁が波打っている様子を鐘馗ヒゲに例えたことに由来します。

曼珠沙華（彼岸花）は、その毒性のため、日本で昔まだ土葬が一般的だった時代にモグラなどから遺体を守るために墓の周りに植えられました。また堕胎薬としても使われていたようです。

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Waterleaf (Talinum Fruticosum) and a Pale Grass Blue ハゼラン（爆蘭）と大和シジミチョウ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I had to go there three times to take these photos yesterday. First, at 5 a.m. while on an early morning walk. Second, at 9 a.m. before going to a nearby library. Then, at 3 p.m. because at 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., the flowers were closed as shown in the last photo and as suggested by one of its Japanese names "sanjiso," meaning "3 o'clock plant," which I didn't know at these times. They are waterleaves (Talinum fruticosum). I walk by them almost every morning but didn't know until the day before when happening to walk by them at around 3 p.m. While I was photographing the waterleaf, a pale grass blue came to play with me, flying from one flower to another.  

A pale grass blue on waterleaf　ハゼラン（爆蘭）と大和シジミチョウ

Climbing Fig (Ficus Pumila) オオイタビ（大木蓮子）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

They look like figs but their shape differs from usual figs (2nd photo). These are climbing figs (Ficus pumila). Usual figs nearby were all gone when they got ripe while nobody seems to be interested in climbing figs although they're also edible. A woman passing by me said that the fruits were strewn on the ground every autumn.  

Climbing fig (Ficus pumila)　オオイタビ（大木蓮子）

The shape differs from usual figs　イチジクとは形が違う

Two Caterpillars Resting Side by Side 仲良く休憩？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Something was strange with the leaf of a Chinese tallow tree. See? Something was protruding from the tip. I went behind it, finding two caterpillars resting on the leaf side by side (last photo). I wanted to photograph them from right behind but gave up. I didn't want to disturb them. 

Yellow Damselfly (Ceriagrion Melanurum) キイトトンボ（黄糸蜻蛉）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It resembles an Asian bluetail (Ischnura asiatica) but the body color is different. The Asian bluetail is blue while this one is yellow green. This is a yellow damselfly (Ceriagrion melanurum). Asian bluetails and yellow damselflies are both difficult to find because they're so thin. While blinking after taking these photos, I lost sight of it.

Yellow damselfly (Ceriagrion melanurum)　キイトトンボ（黄糸蜻蛉）

Parent and Child Caterpillars? 親子イモムシ？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I thought of it as a stem or a small twig, but it had something protruding and orange spots. It resembled a lot the black caterpillar I saw a few days ago. Then I realized that it was also a small caterpillar (2nd photo)! It's like a child of the bigger one, isn't it? The bigger one looks like holding the smaller one in its mouth, but both were holding on to a stem separately and independently!! By the way, the caterpillar I saw a few days ago was still on the same leaf in the same place (3rd photo). I didn't know that caterpillars could be that patient!   

Parent and child?　親子？

The one I saw a few days ago　数日前に見たイモムシ

Giant Crinum Lily (Crinum Asiaticum) ハマユウ（浜木綿）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is a giant crinum lily (Crinum asiaticum), a plant in the Amaryllidaceae family, the same as red spider lilies. Also like red spider lilies, giant crinum lilies are toxic in their entirety. The thin orangish things on the flower are stamens.

Giant crinum lily (Crinum asiaticum)　ハマユウ（浜木綿）

The stamens are brownish　雄蕊は茶色

Caterpillar イモムシ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's been several days since I last took an early morning walk. A typhoon was over Japan at the weekend, bringing heavy rain sporadically. But it's changed to a tropical storm now, so I went out this morning and found this 2cm long caterpillar at the park where I usually do squats. Leaves were swinging naturally in the wind, like lulling the caterpillar to sleep.