Toad Lily (Tricyrtis Formosana) タイワンホトトギス（台湾杜鵑草）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Hang in there, buddy! The snail was like in the second and third photos yesterday and in the first photo this morning. The flower it was holding onto is a toad lily (Tricyrtis formosana). The plant is said to flower from August to September but I've come to believe toad lilies flower throughout the year because I saw them today (i.e., in May) but in December last year and in September the year before. 

The plant is named after spots on a toad's skin and its preference of shady, moist places like toads. In Japan, however, the toad lily is called "hototogisu," which translates into "lesser cuckoo," also after its spots, which, to Japanese people, look like the chest plumage of the bird. Perception varies. 

2025/5/16

2025/5/15 From above

2025/5/15 From side

Tricyrtis Formosana (Toad Lily) 台湾杜鵑草（タイワンホトトギス）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are flowers of tricyrtis formosana. They're more commonly known as Taiwanese toad lilies because of their spots while they're called "lesser cuckoo" in Japan also because of the spots. The spots look like a toad's skin in the west though the chest plumage of this small bird in Japan. Different people, different views.  

Tricyrtis formosana 台湾杜鵑草

Toad lily タイワンホトトギス

Tricyrtis - Crossbreed of Japanese and Taiwanese Ones? 杜鵑草 - 日本と台湾のハーフ？

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Are they Japanese or Taiwanese? That is the question. And my answer is that they're a crossbreed of tricyrtis hirta (or more commonly known as Japanese toad lilies) and tricyrtis formosana (or Taiwanese toad lilies). 

The biggest difference between Japanese and Taiwanese toad lilies is that the Japanese toad lily has flowers only at the axil (i.e., between stems) while the Taiwanese one's stem branches into several stems and each stem has a flower at the top. The toad lilies in the first three photos have flowers at the top of the stems but also between the stems, which made me wonder if they were a crossbreed of Japanese and Taiwanese toad lilies...  

The plant is called toad lily because it has spots on the petals looking like a toad's skin, but that's different from how Japanese people see toad lilies. In Japan, they're called "lesser cuckoo" because, to Japanese people, the spots seem like the chest plumage of the small bird.

Japanese (tricyrtis hirta) or Taiwanese (tricyrtis formosana)?
日本の杜鵑草？台湾杜鵑草？

Flowers both at the top of stems and at the axil 葉腋と茎の先端の両方に花

Tricyrtis Formosana (Toad Lily) 台湾杜鵑草（タイワンホトトギス）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are tricyrtis formosana flowers or more commonly known as Taiwanese toad lilies. They didn't have flowers a few days ago, so they must've bloomed in the last couple of days while I was taking different routes for a morning walk.

Taiwanese toad lilies are different from Japanese ones. The Taiwanese one's stem branches into several stems and each stem has a flower at the top while the Japanese one doesn't have flowers at the top of the stem but at the axil. 

The plant is called toad lily because it has spots on the petals looking like a toad's skin, but that's different from how Japanese people see toad lilies. In Japan, they're called "lesser cuckoo" because, to Japanese people, the spots seem like the chest plumage of this small bird.

Tricyrtis formosana 台湾杜鵑草

Taiwanese toad lily タイワンホトトギス

Two Tricyrtis and Three Samurai Lords ホトトギス２種

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are tricyrtis macropoda and tricyrtis formosana 'samurai' (maybe....😅). I saw the first one at Mukojima Hyakkaen Garden and the second in my neighborhood both in Tokyo. 

Tricyrtis macropoda ヤマホトトギス

Tricyrtis Formosana 'Samurai' (Toad Lily) ホトトギス

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai' I had seen before the heat wave in Japan started early August...

Tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai'　ホトトギス

Toad lily　杜鵑草

Toad lily is hairy! 毛深いね😆

It's also called toad lily because it has spots looking like a toad's skin, and it prefers shady, moist places like toads. But this perception is not true of Japan. The toad lily is named "lesser cuckoo" in Japanese after the spots, which look like the chest plumage of this small bird.

Lesser cuckoo is "ほととぎす/ホトトギス" in Japanese hiragana/katakana form, but not only that. It has (too!) many names in Chinese characters as follows. (Japanese uses three characters; hiragana, katakana and Chinese characters.): 
- 杜鵑
- 杜宇
- 蜀魂
- 不如帰
- 時鳥
- 子規
- 田鵑

All of these mean "ほととぎす/ホトトギス (i.e., lesser cuckoo)" or tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai.' The flower is also called "oil stain flower" because of the spots. Wow, this small flower has stirred our imagination in many ways, i.e., toad, lesser cuckoo, oil stain.... 

Tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai' or Japanese toad lily is not so conspicuous, but the color and spots combined with its three petals and three sepals makes the flower so pretty! What do you see in this flower, a toad, a lesser cuckoo or oil stains? 

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ホトトギスです。斑点が鳥の胸の斑点と似ているからだそうです。杜鵑、杜宇、蜀魂、不如帰、時鳥、子規、田鵑とも書きます。油の模様染みにも見えるから油点草（ユテンソウ）とも言います。

英語では「toad lily」、カエルユリ。カエルの模様に似ているからだそうです。

つまり、ホトトギス、油、カエルと、少なくとも３通りの創造を掻き立てたわけです。それほど目立つ花ではないのですが、色と模様、そして３枚の花弁と３枚のガク。全体で見ると何ともかわいく思えてしまうのは私だけでしょうか｡｡｡

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