Galls Look Like Caterpillars! (Tuberocephalus Tsengi)😱! 葉縁袋五倍子（ハベリフクロフシ）😱！

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

I wrote last year about (too) many caterpillars on a tree, but at that time I didn't know that they were not caterpillars but Tuberocephalus tsengi or galls😱!!! I've seen galls on Japanese snowbell trees, which look like flowers and contain aphids. So, these galls (on maybe a cherry tree) I saw yesterday should also contain many many aphids😱!

Galls look like caterpillars😱!　虫こぶ😱！

Tuberocephalus tsengi😱!　虫こぶ😱！

Double Pink Flowered Cherry Blossoms 八重桜

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

They're double flowered cherry blossoms. Cherry trees generally bloom from early February (e.g., Kawazu cherry and Taiwan cherry) to mid-to late March (e.g., Oshima and Somei cherry trees), then early April (e.g., double-flowered cherry and mountain cherry). So, the blooming of double flowered cherry trees means the cherry blossom season this year will soon be over. But before that, enjoy these pretty "chubby" blossoms!!

Below are the cherry blossoms I've seen this year. If you're interested in them, read these posts, too!!

• Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata)
• Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
• Kawazu cherry (Cerasus lannesiana)
• Pink & white Oshima cherry (Prunus speciosa)
• Weeping cherry blossoms
• Somei cherry (Prunus x yedoensis)

Double pink flowered cherry blossoms　八重桜

Double pink flowered cherry blossoms　八重桜

White Flowering Dogwood (Cornus Florida) 白の花水木（ハナミズキ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Flowering dogwood has started to flower!! They're beautiful but also remind me of mandu dumplings😋

The cream white things that look like flower petals are actually bracts. The petals are tiny greenish yellow objects protruding from the center of the flowers. 

2023/4/1

Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis) 勿忘草（ワスレナグサ）

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

These're forget-me-nots (Myosotis). They're tiny but their color contrast between the blue purple petals and the yellow centers against the green leaves after the rain was so beautiful. 

 Forget-me-not　勿忘草

 Myosotis　ワスレナグサ

Red Camellia 真っ赤な落椿

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

People across Japan are excited about the start of the cherry blossom season, but they are missing something as beautiful as cherry blossoms. Camellia trees are now in full bloom, so the flower heads in my neighborhood are scattered on the ground as shown in the second photo!! 

Japanese camellia look like sasanqua and experts provide several ways to distinguish these two camellia flowers, i.e., the size of trees and the timing of flowering, but the most interesting difference is how they fall or die. When Japanese camellia flowers die, the flower heads fall off in their entirety and this way of dying was associated with beheaded human heads in the Edo (samurai) period. Naturally, despite their beauty, camellia flowers were unpopular among samurai. Unlike Japanese camellia, sasanqua flowers die with petals falling off one by one.

Red camellia is in full bloom　椿が満開

 

Camellia flower heads reminded samurai of beheaded human heads
これが首を連想させたそうです

Cherry Laurel (Prunus Laurocerasus) 紅葉李（ベニバスモモ）

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

They're cherry laurel blossoms (Prunus laurocerasus). They are cherry blossoms, but not counted as such in Japan. The western countries consider all the plants in the Prunus genus as cherry while Asian countries including Japan consider only those in the Cerasus subgenus (i.e., a subgenus of Prunus) cherry. 

Cherry laurel　紅葉李

Prunus laurocerasus　ベニバスモモ

Forsythia 連翹（レンギョウ）

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

Forsythia has started to flower. Many plants produce yellow flowers but forsythia's yellow is brighter than that of wintersweet or winter hazel.   

Forsythia　連翹

Forsythia　レンギョウ

Eurya Japonica (East Asian Eurya) 姫榊（ヒサカキ）

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

These are buds of Eurya japonica, known as East Asian eurya. I've not found new plants in my neighborhood these days because I've taken an early morning walk every day for over three years since Covid-19 started and learned the location of almost every plant. So, it was nice to find East Asian eurya and look it up on the internet!

East Asian eurya is in the Pentaphylacaceae family as Japanese Ternstroemia is, my another favorite plant. 

Eurya japonica　姫榊

East Asian eurya　ヒサカキ

White & Pink Thunberg's Meadowsweet 雪柳＆桃色雪柳

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

They're Spiraea thunbergii or more commonly Thunberg spiraea or Thunberg's meadowsweet. The plant is called in Japan "snow willow" after its snow white flowers and flexible stems like willow. But you know what? There is another cultivar producing pinkish white flowers (i.e., Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pinky')!

Spiraea thunbergii　雪柳

Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pinky'　桃色雪柳

Dwarf Lilyturf (Ophiopogon Japonicus) 蛇の髭（ジャノヒゲ）

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

These are fruits of dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus). Round red fruits, such as coral ardisia, are seen in many places, but blue fruits are not that common, aren't they? 

In Japan, dwarf lilyturf is called "snake's beard" or "dragon's beard" after its thin beard-like leaves. 

Dwarf lilyturf　蛇の髭

Ophiopogon japonicus　ジャノヒゲ

Red Japanese Camellia (Camellia Japonica) 赤い椿

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

These are Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica). Several camellia trees grow in my neighborhood but this one produces much bigger flowers than the others and I know why. This tree is in the garden of an apartment complex and the owner must have grown it very carefully. 

They're so beautiful, but sadly the complex will be demolished soon for urban redevelopment.

Japanese camellia　椿