Longstalk Holly (Ilex Pedunculosa) ソヨゴ（戦）

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The red berries and the deep green leaves made me smile. This is longstalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa). Many plants produce red, purple, or black fruits in autumn but the longstalk holly berries are unique, hanging from the tree like cherries🍒. The longstalk holly produces tiny and adorable flowers!

Yeddo Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis Umbellata) シャリンバイ（車輪梅）

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Are they edible? That's what I thought at first😆. They look like blueberries, don't they? They're Yeddo hawthorn berries (Rhaphiolepis umbellata). I did research and alas found that they're edible but tasteless with little edible part. The good news is they're used for textile dyeing. 

Pampas Lily-of-the-Valley (Salpichroa Origanifolia) ハコベホオズキ（繁縷酸漿）

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These small flowers surprised me at first because I remembered them flowering in only spring but I was mistaken. They're pampas lilies-of-the-valley (Salpichroa origanifolia) and flower from May to October (it's already November though). Pampas lilies-of-the-valley resemble Japanese andromeda and white enkianthus but the leaf shape and the timing of flowering are different. Japanese andromeda flowers from February to April and white enkianthus in April and May.  

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

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I've been observing fruit capsules of hamilton's spindletree (Euonymus hamiltonianus) change their color since late September. In September they were green, turning pale pink in October and now in early November like those in the 1st and 2nd photos. 

The Hamilton's spindletree fruits start to grow in May and June, then splitting into four sections like those in these photos. The tree also produces beautiful pale green flowers although I've never seen them. 

A good thing about photographing plants is to make people talkative. When I was photographing the plant in September, two women approached me asking what they were. I said they were fruits of Hamilton's spindletree but the women insisted they should be buds to flower soon. It was fun talking with strangers about little things.

2024/11/10

2024/11/10

Chinese Tallow (Triadica Sebifera) ナンキンハゼ（南京櫨）

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This is one of my favorite plants, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera). In summer, its thin and long flowers are beautiful (5th photo) while its fruits attract passersby with the deep green fruits against the leaves of the same color (3rd photo). And now in autumn, the fruits have started to crack, showing white seeds (1st and 2nd photos). The next thing you can enjoy is the leaves, which will change the color gorgeously, turning orange, yellow, and red.  

A few days after the 1st photo

White Sasanqua Camellia 白い山茶花

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Double flowered camellia sasanqua are gorgeous while single flowered ones are fragilely elegant. And the deep green leaves, which are also beautiful, make the camellia blooms' beauty stand out even more. 

Bumblebee マルハナバチ（丸花蜂）

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I often mistake horseflies for bees, but I believe this is a bee, maybe a bumblebee!!?? If so, it's my first time to see a bumblebee. The bee is so chubby and so adorable! 

I don't eat sugary things much but when I really want to have sweet stuff, I make French toast myself and put a LOT of honey on it. 

The bumblebee is called "maruhana bachi," meaning "round (or chubby) flower bee." This makes sense, doesn't it?  

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

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Is it too early or late, I don't know, but this sasanqua tree has been in full bloom for the last week. It's autumn according to the calendar but sometimes still hot these days in Tokyo and the sasanqua tree has many double-flowered blooms. Is this because of global warming or this sasanqua being an anomaly? 

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 butterfly (Pseudozizeeria maha) and you can see why it's "pale grass BLUE." The upper side of the male is beautiful pale blue!

The pale grass blue resembles the plains cupid (Luthrodes pandava) very much except for the latter having orange spots on the wings, so I once mistook a plains cupid for a pale grass blue. This time, I checked several times to make sure that this had no orange spot on its wings (3rd photo). It's a pale grass blue butterfly!  

Common Grass Yellow (Eurema Hecabe) キチョウ（黄蝶）

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I'm diurnal as are butterflies, but because I take a morning walk too early, I rarely see butterflies while on a walk. But while heading to a coffee shop nearby at around 10 a.m. the day before yesterday, I saw many butterflies of at least three types flying here and there. One is the pale grass blue, another is the Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum), and the other is this, i.e., the common grass yellow (Eurema hecabe)!!

The yellow was so bright but almost the same color as the flower on which it was resting, I decided to wait hoping the butterfly to move to another place to photograph not only this beautiful butterfly but also the contrast between this bright yellow and another color, e.g., the deep green leaves, but alas, a few minutes later, it just flied away.  

Asian Comma (Polygonia C-Aureum) キタテハ（黄立羽）

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I'm diurnal and butterflies are, but because I take a morning walk too early, I rarely see butterflies while on a walk. But yesterday, I went to a coffee shop nearby at around 10 a.m. seeing many butterflies of at least three types flying here and there. One is the pale grass blue, another is the common grass yellow and this one, i.e., Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum)!! The upper side of Asian comma's wings is such bright orange while the underside is brown like dry leaves (which I couldn't see), protecting them from predators. 

Joro Spider (Trichonephila Clavata)? ジョロウグモ（女郎蜘蛛）？

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This is the best shot I could get. It's a female Joro spider, I think. I noticed her spider web first several months ago because it's big, about 50 cm in diameter, and was shining beautifully in sunlight (though I couldn't photograph the beauty with my compact camera) and since then, I've come to see the owner, which is about 4 cm from toe to toe. For me, this spider is a bit scary but gorgeous as well.   

Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Umbellata) アキグミ（秋茱萸）

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I was tired from work that day but the tiredness just went away when I saw these adorable berries. They're autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). Thorny olives fruit in spring while autumn leaves fruit in autumn. Again, they're so cute so I could just eat them up (although they're tart and astringent😨)!!

Moonflower (Ipomoe Alba) ヨルガオ（夜顔）

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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) and this morning, finally and for the first time, I found they were fully open like the Moon! Moonflowers have this name because they're open at night (and that's why I'd seen them closed or only half open in the morning like those in the 3rd and 4th 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. Seeing moonflowers has concluded my list of Japan classified morning glories.