Antilles Mottlegill (Panaeolus Antillarum) ツヤマグソタケ（艶馬糞茸）

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It was great fun finding mushrooms that hadn't existed a few days earlier. They've just popped up for the past couple of days, during which it rained heavily due to a typhoon. Google Lens identifies them as antilles mottlegill (Panaeolus antillarum) but I'm not sure. 

Many mushrooms are safe to touch and eat (and tasty!) but some are not. In Japan, 30 to 70 people are treated for mushroom poisoning every year. The Japanese ministry of agriculture, forestry, and fishery has a website on 10 most typical poisonous mushrooms in Japan (in Japanese only).   

2026/6/30

East Asian Mallotus (Mallotus Japonicus) アカメガシワ（赤芽柏）

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East Asian mallotus (Mallotus japonicus) is native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree is dioecious, producing male and female flowers on separate trees from June to July. The trees in this post are all female with female flowers, producing clusters of fruits and seeds (scroll down) in two months. The three to four branched red parts of the female flowers are stigmas.

2026/6/29

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum Esculentum) ソバ（蕎麦）

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The buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is native to southwestern China and grown in Hokkaido and other prefectures in Japan but it's unusual for it to grow on the sidewalk like this. The plant produces white and pink flowers twice a year in Japan, i.e., summer buckwheat, which flower from late June to early July, and autumn buckwheat, which flower from early September to mid-October. Those in these photos should be summer buckwheat.

Many tourists come to Japan to eat tempura, sushi, ramen, wagyu, etc., but when you want to give your stomach a break, I would recommend a soba noodle. When your stomach doesn't need a break, you can of course enjoy having a soba noodle with tempura on it (i.e., tempura soba) or a soba noodle together with oyako don (chicken and egg rice bowl) or katsu don (Japanese pork cutlet and egg rice bowl), both of which you should generally be able to have at most soba noodle restaurants. 

2026/6/28

Japanese Spirea (Spiraea Japonica) シモツケ（下野）

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The Japanese spirea (Spiraea japonica) is native to China, Korea, and Japan and can be found across Japan, producing pink flowers with a beautiful gradient from pale to bright pink from May to August. The plant is named "shimotsuke" in Japanese after the Shimotsuke province or the current Tochigi prefecture where the plant was found for the first time in Japan. Its autumn leaves are also beautiful (scroll down)!

2026/6/28

Dendropanax Trifidus 隠れ蓑（カクレミノ）

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The Dendropanax trifidus is native to east Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree produces male and hermaphrodite flowers from June to July and then fruits, which turn black purple in late autumn. 

Its Japanese name is "kakuremino," which translates into "invisibility cloak," after the leaf looking like Tengu's magic cloak, which makes the wearer invisible like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Tengu are a type of mischievous yokai (supernatural beings) appearing in Japanese folklore. Imagining Harry Potter wearing Tengu's cloak made me chuckle😆.

The Dendropanax trifidus leaves change generally from a lobed to an ovate shape but some aren't lobed or ovate, which makes it difficult to identify the tree.  

2026/6/27

2023/7/21

Broadleaf Plantain (Plantago Major) セイヨウオオバコ（西洋大葉子）

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The broadleaf plantain (Plantago major) is native to Eurasia while the Chinese plantain (Plantago asiatica) is native to east Asia and both can now be found across Japan. The former is larger than the latter but otherwise they resemble each other very much, so I can't tell which those in these photos are. The Plantago major flowers in summer and the Plantago asiatica from April to September in Japan. When I took these pictures, most had no flowers but I found one with many tiny cream flowers drooping after rain. 

  

2026/6/26

Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis Jalapa) オシロイバナ（白粉花）

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The marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa) is native to South America, came to Japan at the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868), and is now planted for ornamental purposes across the country. It produces white, red, yellow, pink, and variegated flowers from late June to October. Its another name "four o'clock flowers" is after it usually opening at around 4 p.m.  

Its Japanese name is "Oshiroi bana," which translates into "white makeup powder flower," after the endosperm in the black seeds looking like white makeup powder.

2026/6/24

Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana) 洋種山牛蒡（ヨウシュヤマゴボウ）

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The pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is native to North America, came to Japan at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912), and can now be found across the country. It produces tiny flowers with white petals and green ovaries from June to September, followed by fruits which are green at first but turn dark purple beautifully when ripe. (Scroll down!) The plant is toxic in its entirety despite its beautiful appearance. 

2026/6/24

Annabelle Hydrangea (Hydrangea Arborescens 'Annabelle') アナベル

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The Annabelle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle') is a cultivar of Hydrangea arborescens. The hydrangea is a late bloomer, producing flowers from May to July, which are lime green at first, turning white and then green again. Below are the shots of various hydrangeas. Hope you enjoy them!

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha' (Popcorn hydrangea)

Hydrangea changing from pale green to white then to pale blue
Hydrangea blooming all year round (Hydrangea serrata var. yesoensis f. cuspidata cv.)

Purple and pink lacecap hydrangeas

Various lacecap hydrangeas

Pink mophead hydrangea

Kurenai lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata var. 'Kurenai')

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Tea of heaven 'Mikata-yae' (blue Hydrangea serrata)

Nettle-leaved hydrangea (Hydrangea hirta)

White and whitish hydrangea

2026/6/2

Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus) アガパンサス（紫君子蘭）

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The Lily of the Nile or the African lily is native to Southern Africa, was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912) and can now be found across the country, producing pale purple and white (sometimes pink, which I've never seen) flowers from May to August in Tokyo. The lily is popular for its flowers blooming during the muggy rainy season in Japan (usually from June to mid-July).   

2025/6/20

Himalayan Ash (Fraxinus Griffithii) シマトネリコ（島梣）

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The Himalayan ash (Fraxinus griffithii) is native to subtropical to tropical Asia and can be found in Japan (mainly in southern Japan), producing large panicles of small white flowers from May to June. 

The tree is known to attract Japanese rhinoceros beetles (Trypoxylus dichotomus) but is designated as an invasive species in some wards of Tokyo. 

2026/6/22