Plants and Flowers in Tokyo & Japanese Culture by Kei Narujima　東京の草花＆つぶやき

Five-Seeded Plume-Poppy (Macleaya Cordata)　タケニグサ（竹似草）

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This is five-seeded plume-poppy (Macleaya cordata). The plant is native to China, Taiwan, and Japan and can be found across Japan. Its Japanese name is "takeni gusa," which translates into "plant similar to bamboo," after it having hollow stems like bamboos.

The plant shows its beauty in various ways. Spindle shaped white things (like the one in the center of the 1st photo) are buds. Things that look like sparkers are flowers, which contain beautiful thread shaped white stamens and orange pistils. Its brown capsules (4th photo) are also beautiful.

2025/7/13
Thread shaped white things are stamens and orange things behind them are pistils.
白い糸状のものが雄蕊でオレンジが雌蕊

2021/6/16 - Pistils (ovaries)　雌蕊（子房）

2025/7/13

2025/7/13 - Capsules　蒴果

Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica)　サルスベリ（百日紅）

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Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is native to China, coming to Japan before the Edo period (1603 - 1867) and can be found across Japan now. The tree produces flowers in various colors, white, pink, and red. Its leaves turn orange and red beautifully in autumn and the dark brown fruits are also beautiful.

The crepe myrtle has two names in Japan, "saru suberi," which translates to "monkeys slip" because of its slippery bark, on which even monkeys (are said to) slip, and "hyaku jitsu ko," which translates to "red for one hundred days," after that the crepe myrtle flowers bloom for a long period of time.

According to Flower Meanings, the crepe myrtle flower means;
- Prosperity;
- Good luck;
- Chastity;
- Good luck in love and marriage; and
- Marital fidelity.

But here in Japan, it means:

- Eloquence;
- Charm and;
- Carelessness.

2022/8/1

2020/7/5

2021/7/24

Popcorn Hydrangea (Hydrangea Macrophylla Ayesha)　ウズアジサイ（渦紫陽花）

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They're one of my favorite hydrangeas, popcorn hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla Ayesha). Needless to say, the hydrangea is named after the shape of its sepals, which resembles that of popcorns.

2025/7/11

2024/6/4

Camellia Fruits (Camellia Japonica and Camellia Sasanqua)　椿と山茶花の実

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Camellia trees in my neighborhood have started fruit and one of the differences between the Camellia japonica and the Camellia sasanqua is the fruit.

Japanese people love Camellia so much that they talk a lot about how to distinguish between "japonica" and "sasanqua." One way to tell is to look at the size and skin of their fruits. Also, a Camellia japonica fruit is bigger (i.e., about 5 cm in diameter) with a glossy skin while a Camellia sasanqua one is about 3 cm and hairy.

The seeds of both Camellia fruits can produce oil (i.e., tea seed oil), which has been used for skin and hair in Japan for a long time. How long? The Shoku Nihongi, i.e., an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text, says that Japan gave the oil to an ambassador sent from Balhae, a multi-ethnic kingdom in Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East, in 777. Wow!

Camellia japonica and sasanqua are both the prefectural/city/town flower of many prefectures and municipalities in Japan, and the Camellia japonica is surprisingly the Alabama state flower.

If you're interested in another (easy!) way to tell the Camellia japonica from the Camellia sasanqua, read THIS post, too!!

2025/7/10 Camellia japonica

2021/8/5 Camellia JAPONICA, no hair, 5 cm in diameter
椿の実はツルツルで直径5センチ

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

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Tall stewartia (Stewartia monadelpha) is native to Japan and can be found in the Kanagawa prefecture (next to Tokyo) and the southern areas. The plant is in the Theaceae family, the same as Japanese camellia. You can see the resemblance of the flowers to camellias. Tall stewartia produces flowers from May to August and fruits generally from October to November but a tree in my neighborhood fruited in August last year and has started to fruit since July this year. And that's not the end. After turning brown, the fruits crack, which look like a crow screaming! (Scroll down! That's funny.)

2025/5/31

2025/7/10

Virginia Pepperweed (Lepidium Virginicum) 　マメグンバイナズナ（豆軍配薺）

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Virginia pepperweed or least pepperwort (Lepidium virginicum) is native to North America and its existence was first confirmed in Japan in the Meiji era (1868 - 1912). Virginia pepperweed resembles shepherd's purses (Capsella bursa-pastoris) very much, but while the fruits of shepherd's purse are triangle shaped, Virginia pepperweed's fruit shape is rounder, resembling that of small "gunbai," a type of Japanese war fan. Gunbai were once held by samurai leaders and priests but now used by (only) umpires in sumo wrestling. The gunbai shape is that of the fruits in the 1st photo.

2025/7/9

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

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A pale grass blue butterfly (Pseudozizeeria maha) is plain at a glance (3rd photo) but you would be surprised when seeing the upper side of a male one, which is beautiful pale blue as its name suggests. Butterflies are known to open their wings to bask in the sun to warm their bodies, so you're more likely to see the beautiful blue in autumn than summer.

The pale grass blue resembles the plains cupid (Luthrodes pandava) very much except for the latter having orange spots on the wings. I once mistook a plains cupid for a pale grass blue.

2024/11/5

2022/11/9

2025/6/29

Early Amethyst (Callicarpa Dichotoma)　コムラサキ（小紫）

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Early amethyst (Callicarpa dichotoma) is native to Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces tiny pale pink flowers in clusters from July to August and tiny drupes also in clusters from September to November. The fruits are green at first and then turn purple. (Scroll down!!) Its Japanese name is "komurasaki," which translates to "small East Asian beautyberry" because the two resemble each other but the former (i.e., early amethyst) is smaller than the latter.

Their Japanese names both contain "muraski," which means purple and Murasaki Shikibu or Lady Purple. Lady Purple is a Japanese novelist, poet and court lady at the Imperial court in the Heian period (794 - 118), known as the author of The Tale of Genji, which is often said to be the world's oldest long novel.

2025/6/20

Swallowtail Butterfly　アゲハ蝶

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I know there are various types of swallowtail butterflies but I don't know what these two are. The butterfly in the first three photos has orange spots while that in the last two photos (taken two years ago) has blue and orange spots. I caught many butterflies when I was a child but didn't appreciate their beauty at that time. What a shame...

2025/7/7

Johnson Grass (Sorghum Halepense)　セイバンモロコシ（西播蜀黍）

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Johnson grass or Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is native to Asia and northern Africa, coming to, or (as an invasive species) invading, Japan in around 1945. Now, the weed can be found across Japan but Hokkaido, i.e., the northernmost part of Japan. I looked up the origin of the name, finding that the plant was named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who introduced the plant to his farm in around 1840 as a prospective forage. Johnsongrass, however, has been found to become poisonous under stress (e.g., frost) and be toxic to livestock.

Despite such hardiness and toxicity, however, Johnsongrass produces tiny and cute flowers.

2026/6/29

2025/6/26

Skunkvine (Paederia Foetida)　屁糞葛（ヘクソカズラ）

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Skunkvine (Paederia foetida) is native to Asia and can be found across Japan. The perception of the plant in Japan is it's smelly (as in other countries), so its Japanese name is "hé kuso kazura," which translates to "fart shxx vine." The plant is also so hardy that it was sung in a waka poem by an Imperial Court official in the Nara period (710-794), who wished to work hardily like the plant, and the poem is included in The Manyōshū, i.e., the oldest extant collection of Japanese waka poetry compiled during that period.

Despite such a terrible name and the smell, however, the flower's glossy red center always reminds me of jam thumbprint cookies.

2025/7/4

2025/6/29

Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea Quercifolia)　カシワバアジサイ（柏葉紫陽花）

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These are oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia). As suggested by the name, they have oak leaf shaped leaves. The flowers are greenish white at first but turn white and then red. The leaves also turn red in autumn. Like other hydrangeas, what look like petals are not petals but are sepals. The bloom in the third photo is called "harmony" oakleaf hydrangea.

2025/7/3

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)　木槿（ムクゲ）

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The hydrangea season is over and the mallow season has started in Japan. These are roses of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). Roses of Sharon ate native to China, coming to Japan at the beginning of the Heian period (794 to 1185). They produce white and pink flowers and are used for display at Japanese tea ceremonies in summer.

2025/7/2

Blue-Tailed Forest Hawk (Orthetrum Triangulare Melania)　オオシオカラトンボ（大塩辛蜻蛉）

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This is a blue-tailed forest hawk (Orthetrum triangulare melania). The dragonfly can be found across Japan from June to September. Its blue gray body is so beautiful that I wanted to photograph it from above and side, but couldn't. That's a big difference from photographing plants, which don't move unless it's windy so you can come back the following day but which also makes the moment more memorable.

Like blue skimmers, female blue-tailed forest hawks are not blue but yellow.

2025/7/1

Plane Tree (Platanus)　プラタナス/スズカケノキ（鈴懸の木）

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Tiny, cream and red things scattered on the ground caught my eye. They're ribbon-shaped (so cute!), making me look up and find their source, plane trees. These tiny things are their flowers. The plane tree is native to the Northern Hemisphere and quite large. I've seen London plane trees, but saw plane trees for the first time.

The plane tree is called "suzukake no ki" in Japanese, which translates to "kasaya tree," after the tree with hanging flowers and fruits looking like "kasaya," clothing worn by Buddhist monks.

2025/6/30

Chinese Cucumber and Pumpkin Beetle　黄烏瓜と黒瓜葉虫

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You see Chinese cucumbers (Trichosanthes kirilowii) and then you see pumpkin beetles (Aulacophora nigripennis) on them. The Chinese cucumber is dioecious, flowering from June to September and fruiting from August to October. The fruits, which are green at first and then turn yellow, are edible but not tasty. Someone says on the internet that he would never eat it unless famine comes😆.

Pumpkin beetles are harmful but their tininess, agility and color contrast between orange and black never fails to bring me a smile.

2025/6/29

Coppertips (Crocosmia)　姫檜扇水仙（ヒメヒオウギスイセン）

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Their bright orange was so vivid, catching my eye. They're Coppertips (Crocosmia) or montbretias. They (or more specifically their parents) are native to South Africa but can be found now across Japan and because of their hardiness, i.e., invasiveness, their growth is prohibited in some prefectures in Japan.

In Japanese, they're called "hime hiogi suisen," which translates to "princess blackberry lily narcissus" because of the resemblance of their leaves to those of blackberry lilies and their bulbs to those of narcissus. The term "hime," which means princess, is used to describe their smallness. Logical in a way but complicated!

2025/6/27

Robber Fly (Asilidae)　ムシヒキアブ（虫引虻）

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This is a robber fly or assassin fly (Asilidae). As suggested by the name, robber flies attack and eat mainly other insects, even wasps. Some websites say the robber fly is one of the most powerful predatory insects. This robber fly, however, didn't show any sign of such aggressiveness while I was taking these photos, just resting on a leaf.

2025/6/26

Blue Dawn Flower　ノアサガオ（野朝顔）

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These are blue dawn flowers or blue morning glories (Ipomoea indica). They're morning glories but different from usual ones (e.g., Ipomoea nil), flowering in not only summer but autumn. The photos below are taken from June to November.

Blue morning glories are larger, about 10 cm in diameter. They're hardy or in other words invasive and for that, they're designated as an invasive plant in Japan and other countries.

2025/6/19

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