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

Ring-Cupped Oak (Quercus Glauca)　アラカシ（粗樫）

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Ring-cupped oak or Japanese blue oak trees (Quercus glauca) can be found almost across Japan. They produce acorns from October to November and the acorns are not only fed on by insects and birds but were eaten by people as a famine food in Japan. Oak trees are usually known for the acorns but ring-cupped oak trees produce beautiful cylindrical flowers (4th and 5th photos) and red shoots (3rd photo), which look like the heads of Pteranodon (to me), from April to May.

2025/10/23

2022/4/12

Golden Mimosa (Acacia Baileyana)　ギンヨウアカシア（銀葉金合歓）

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Golden mimosa (Acacia baileyana) is native to Australia but can be found across Japan. The trees produce beautiful golden flowers from January to March and show beautiful red leaves in autumn.

2025/3/2

2025/10/18

Japanese Chestnut (Castanea Crenata)　日本グリ（和栗）

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The Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata) is native to Japan and Korea and can be found across Japan. Chestnuts are used for many dishes in Japan, not only sweets but also mixed rice or kuri gohan.

There are the following types of chestnuts according to Adachi Otoemon, a confectionery shop in Kyoto:

Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata)
Western chestnut (Castanea sativa)
Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima)
American chestnut (Castanea dentata)

I know all of them are sweet so I want to taste them all to decide which is the sweetest😋!

2025/10/19

Orange Sweet Osmanthus (Osmanthus Fragrans Var. Aurantiacus)　キンモクセイ（金木犀）

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Orange sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus), a variety of sweet osmanthus, is native to China and came to Japan in the 17th century. As its name suggests, the flowers are so fragrant that orange sweet osmanthus is designated as one of the three most fragrant flowers in Japan together with winter daphne and cape jasmine.

The orange sweet osmanthus has been propagated from cuttings in Japan because only male plants were imported to Japan.

2025/10/24 Fully open

2025/10/24

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

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Pink and white bush clovers (Lespedeza buergeri) can be found across Japan. Generally, bush clovers produce pink/purple flowers but this type produces flowers which have the large white upper petal (banner) with a base and the two side petals (wings) both of which are purple.

2025/10/18

Greater Death's Head Hawkmoth (Acherontia Lachesis)　クロメンガタスズメ（黒面形天蛾）

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I believe this is a caterpillar of a bee robber or greater death's head hawkmoth (Acherontia lachesis). I've seen many caterpillars and always find it difficult to know what it is but this is an easy one because of its size.

A larva of the bee robber is as long as 10 cm - 12 cm and changes its color. The caterpillar in the photo is on a stem with its head on top. Its Japanese name is "kuromengata suzume," translating to "black face hawkmoth" after a black (or skull) face on its thorax. Unusually, its English and Japanese names coincide, which makes me want to see its adults.

2025/10/12

2025/10/17

Japanese Cornel (Cornus Officinalis)　サンシュユ（山茱萸）

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The Japanese cornel (Cornus officinalis) is native to China, Korea, and Japan and can be found across Japan. The tree produces umbels of bright yellow flowers from March to April before leaves and berries that get redder from October to November.

The bright yellow of Japanese cornel flowers is called a "vitamin color" in Japan because it's said to energize people, which I believe is true. In spring, many stop in front of the trees to look at their pretty flowers talking about the joy of spring but surprisingly and sadly, most don't know Japanese cornel. The Japanese cornel is one of the most underestimated trees because of their blossoming at almost the same time as cherry and Japanese apricot trees.

2025/3/20

2025/3/9

Linden Arrowwood (Viburnum Dilatatum) 　ガマズミ（莢蒾）

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Linden arrowwood (Viburnum dilatatum) is native to Eastern Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces white flowers in clusters from April to June and also clusters of red drupes in autumn. The drupes are too sour to eat in the beginning but become sweeter towards late autumn.

The linden arrowwood means that "love is stronger than death" in Japanese floriography.

2025/10/14

2025/10/5

2025/9/23

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ガマズミ（莢蒾）です。東アジア原産で日本中で見られます。花期は春。実は秋に生ります。最初の頃は酸っぱいのですが、秋が深まると段々甘くなるそうです。

花言葉は「愛は死より強し」なかなか強烈です。

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

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Butterflies usually fold wings when resting while moths with open wings. The common straight swift (Parnara guttata) is a butterfly but sometimes rests with open wings to absorb the warmth of the sun, thanks to which I've learned that their back is green (in the 1st and 2nd photos). The 3rd photo is of an ant carrying a dead common straight swift.

The common straight swift is called "ichimonji seseri" in Japanese, meaning "straight line skipper" after its white spots in a straight line while small branded swift (Pelopidas mathias), which has white spots in a circle, is called "chabane seseri," meaning "brown wing skipper."

2025/10/13

Plains Cupid (Luthrodes Pandava)　クロマダラソテツシジミ（黒斑蘇鉄小灰蝶）

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Plains cupid or cycad blue (Luthrodes pandava) resembles pale grass blue. Both are beautifully shiny blue gray on the upper side. One of the distinct differences between the two (I can tell) though is that the former has an orange spot on the underside.

Their existence has been confirmed in Japan since the 1990s to 2000s and now can be found almost across Japan.

2025/10/8

Pink Clematis　ピンクのクレマチス

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There are various types of clematis in terms of color, the number of petals, and whether single or double-flowered. These are single flowered pink clematis with only four petals. Clematis can be found across the globe. They generally flower from spring to autumn but some flower only once a year while others everblooming.

This clematis had only two flowers, suggesting its being near the end of flowering season.

2025/10/3

Mealycup Sage & Maile Pilau Hornworm　サルビア・ファリナセア & ホシホウジャク

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Mealycup sages (Salvia farinacea) are native to North America and Mexico. They're perennial there but annual in Japan. Hovering over them are burnt-spot hummingbird hawkmoths (Macroglossum pyrrhosticta). Surprisingly to me, they're not bees or wasps but moths. I've seen them many times, but they move from one flower to another so swiftly that I had no chance to photograph them. Today, however, while I was taking photos of the sages, hawkmoths came to the flowers, luckily giving me the chance to take pictures of them. Their larvae's host plants are skunkvine.

2025/10/3

Lespedeza (Bush Clovers)　萩（ハギ）

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Bush clovers are native to East Asia and can be found across Japan, flowering from July to September. The term "bush clover" is a kigo, i.e., a seasonal word or phrase associated with a particular season used in traditional forms of Japanese poetry, for autumn, but Lespedeza actually flowers from early summer to autumn.

Bush clovers are known to produce pink flowers but they also have white flowers (Lespedeza buergeri) and some (Lespedeza japonica bailey cv. versicolor) produce pink and white flowers on the same tree.

2025/10/4

2021/6/4 Japanese bush clovers at Kan'-ei-ji temple in Ueno 上野寛永寺の萩

2021/6/4 Lespedeza at Kan'-ei-ji temple in Ueno 上野寛永寺の萩

2020/9/27 Mukojima Hykkaen Garden, 向島百花園

White Early Amethyst (Callicarpa Japonica F. Albibacca)　コシロシキブ（小白式部）

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This is white early amethyst (Callicarpa japonica f. albibacca). I've seen early amethyst, which is purple, many times and photographed them through the year from buds to flowers and to fruits but saw white fruits for the first time.

Early amethyst is native to Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces flowers in clusters from July to August and tiny drupes also in clusters from September to November. Its Japanese name is "koshiro shikibu," meaning white "komurasaki," which translates to "small East Asian beautyberry" because early amethyst and East Asian beautyberry resemble each other but the former is smaller than the latter.

The Japanese names of early amethyst and East Asian beautyberry 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.

2025/10/3

Red, White, and Yellow Spider Lily (Lycoris)　ヒガンバナ（曼珠沙華/彼岸花）

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Spider lilies are native to China but can be found across Japan. They flower in September and therefore are called "Autumnal equinox flower" in Japanese. Spider lilies are known generally as red flowers (Lycoris radiata) but they produce white (Lycoris albiflora) and yellow (Lycoris traubii) flowers. A white spider lily is not a sibling of a red one, but a cross-breed of a red and a yellow spider lilies. It's interesting that a child of red and yellow flowers is white.

A yellow spider lily is called "Shouki zuisen" in Japanese, translating to "Zhong Kui lily" as its petals look like the beard of Zhong Kui, a demon hunter and Chinese deity who fights ghosts.

Despite their beauty, red spider lilies are associated with death in Japan for an unfair but understandable reason. Although cremation is the most popular now, burial used to be common in Japan and therefore red spider lilies were planted to keep moles and other animals away from bodies because the plant's bulbs are poisonous. Spider lilies are called "higan bana," meaning "flowers during the higan period." "Higan" is a Buddhist holiday, i.e., three days before and after both the Spring equinox and Autumnal equinox.

2025/9/26

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

Auaxa Sulphurea　キエダシャク（黄枝尺）

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The summer is finally over this year and signs of autumn are here in Tokyo, one of which is the return of butterflies and moths. This is Auaxa sulphurea, one type of geometer moth. If it hadn't moved, I would have thought it was a leaf.

Auaxa sulphurea is seen across Japan and also Taiwan and can be easily identified by the horizontal brown red line. The caterpillars feed on plants usually in the rose family, known to mimic a rose twig.

2025/9/23

Meadowhawks (Sympetrum)　赤とんぼ

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I've taken photos of blue dragonflies, such as blue-tailed forest hawks and white-tailed skimmers, several times but red ones for the first time (though I saw them many times in my childhood). I believe this is a meadowhawks (Sympetrum) but there are many types of meadowhawks and I don't know which one.

In Japan, there is a very famous song for children titled "Red dragonfly." I don't listen to children's songs almost at all but this red dragonfly made me feel a bit nostalgic.

2025/9/22

Star Magnolia (Magnolia Stellata)　シデコブシ（四手辛夷）

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The star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) is native to Japan, flowering in early spring. Its flowers resemble white magnolia (Yulan magnolia) very much, but there are several differences. Star magnolia flowers are star-shaped and a little smaller than white magnolia. The way of flowering is also different, i.e., star magnolia flowers fully open while white magnolias only half open even when in full bloom.

On 13 September 2025, I found something interesting. A star magnolia tree had several fruits beside another tree with many buds, one of which was half open (4th photo). This is, however, not unusual (at least in Japan). Magnolias are known to flower outside the flowering season due to unusual weather or other reason. This magnolia tree may have produced buds and flowers in September because of the extremely hot summer this year.

2024/3/19

Cabbage White Butterfly　モンシロチョウ（紋白蝶）

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I thought it was a common grass yellow butterfly at first but it's not so yellow and its spots, which should be black, are paler or nearly pale gray, which made me conclude it's a male cabbage white butterfly.

Although its English name and Japanese name (which translates to "spot white butterfly") both include the term "white," the male cabbage white butterflies are yellowish. Also, according to Kubota Corporation's website (in Japanese only), they can tell the male from the female by the wing color because they can see ultraviolet light. The female's wing, which reflects ultraviolet light, looks brighter than the male's wing, which absorbs the light.

2025/9/7

Blue-Striped Nettle Grub (Parasa Lepida)　ヒロヘリアオイラガ（広縁青毒棘蛾）

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What do you see in these photos? I thought it was a strange-shaped grasshopper but you know what? It's a moth! A blue-striped nettle grub (Parasa lepida). I found this on the backside of a leaf of a "drunken" Confederate rose tree. It is a native minor pest found in the Indo-Malayan region, including India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia according to Wikipedia and as an introduced pest, it's currently found across Japan now. The adult (this one) is colorful and cute but its larvae have spines that contain venom.

2025/8/14

Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium Japonicum)　エンジュ（槐）

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Cream yellow flowers scattered on the ground made me look up and find a Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum).

Japanese pagoda trees are native to China, coming to Japan at the latest in the 8th century, and now can be found across Japan in parks and schools. As you can see in the 4th photo, the Japanese pagoda tree is in the Fabaceae family.

2025/8/16

"Drunken" Confederate Rose　スイフヨウ（酔芙蓉）

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These are Confederate roses (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor) and the first five photos are of one flower, taken at 10:00, 12:30, 15:30 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.

The sixth and the last ones are red and white marbled. Some Japanese apricot trees produce such colored flowers but (I believe that) a Confederate rose tree producing such flowers is quite unusual. White apricot trees don't exist but red ones produce white or red/white marbled flowers when they cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red. The same may apply to this hibiscus tree.

If you want to see peach, Japanese apricot, or lespedeza having white, pink/red or marble-colored flowers on a tree, read the following posts:

- Red & White Marble Colored Flowering Peach

- Half & Half Colored Japanese Apricot (White & Pink)!

- Lespedeza Japonica Bailey cv. Versicolor (Variegated Bush Clover)