Spring flower round-up

Spring didn't end when the cherry blossoms dropped, and I have a few month's worth of flower pictures to show you. Names can be confusing, since they vary from place to place, so I'll try to include the Japanese, scientific and common English names for each flower. But there are a few whose names I don't know, so if anyone can help identify them please speak up.

椿 (tsubaki)
Camellia japonica
Camellia (variety unkown)

The tsubaki is actually considered a winter flower but keeps blooming through to April. The flower above, of unknown variety, was actually one of the last blooms in my area, and had faded considerably from its original red colour.

乙女椿 (otome tsubaki)
Camellia japonica var. rusticana (Honda) T.L. Ming
Camellia (common name unknown)

This one really was pink, and I wish I knew the variety name in English as it's one of the most elegent flowers in the world.

大犬の陰嚢 (oh-inu no fuguri)
Veronica persica
Persian speedwell

These tiny flowers abound in March and April, but can be easily overlooked due to their size and low stature. A shame, because they are very cute.

The Japanese name is rather mysterious, and I urge caution to anyone thinking of searching for the meaning online. I just googled the kanji for "fuguri" and Wikipedia Japan let me know, in a most graphic way, that it means "testicles". So this flower seems to be called "big dog's testicles"--does anyone know why? Because I've seen quite a few dog testicles in my day, belonging to all sizes of dogs, and none of them looked like this.

I'm guessing this little April flower is some kind of sweet pea. Anyone know the proper name?

Another tiny mystery flower, out from March to May.

蒲公英 (tampopo)
Taraxacum officinale
Common dandelion

I made a wish after I took this picture, but I'm not telling you what for.

大紫躑躅 (oh-murasaki tsutsuji)
Rhododendron pulchrum
Lovely azalea

Lovely indeed, these azaleas are ubiquitous in April, with virtually every street in Tokyo (and a good number of train stations) being lined with them. The Japanese name literally means "large purple azalea" which must mean that the language has no word for "fuchsia", because these flowers definitely aren't purple.

Another wee little easy-to-overlook wildflower, this one blooms from mid-May to... well I don't know really because they're so easy to miss that this is the first year I've noticed them.  

山吹 (yamabuki)
Kerria japonica
Kerria rose, Japanese rose

These shade-loving flowers bloom prolifically in April and are so bright and cheerful looking that they make me happy each time I pass them by. The world needs more of these flowers.

カルミア (karumia)
Kalmia latifolia
Mountain laurel

This amazing flower is one that I had never seen until I moved a few years ago; now they're all over my neighborhood and I'm glad for it. The unique blooms pop open in May and come in varying shades from white to deep pink.

These May blossoms are chestnut flowers, but I'm not sure what type. The chestnuts back home in Ontario had white flowers of a similar size and shape while edible chestnuts in Japan have completely different flowers. 

いろは紅葉 (iroha momiji)
Acer palmatum
Japanese maple

Properly called "iroha momiji", these maples are commonly called simply "mojiji", but yet again I run into Japanese name confusion: the kanji for "momiji" literally means "red leaves". It has two pronunciations: "momiji", or Japanese maple, and "kouyo", or autumn leaves. Japan's nature is certainly beautiful, but the language drives me bonkers.

The seeds are as beautiful as the leaves. There must be a special name for this type of seed--when I was a kid we used to call them "helicopters" because of the way they spun as they descended to the ground.

I used to split open the seed part, which is full of a glue-like sap, and stick it to the bridge of my nose to transform myself into a rhinoceros. It's not quite as impressive with the Japanese seeds, which I attribute to the smaller size of the seeds here and a lack of imagination on the part of my audience (although the audience in question--namely my husband--thinks it may be because my nose has grown quite a bit since my rhino days).

紫陽花 (ajisai)
Hydrangea macrophylla
Bigleaf hydrangea

My favourite flower of all is just coming into bloom now. Most buds in my neighborhood are still tight and green but a few are starting to open and turn white, with these particular blooms showing blue tips. In another month this bush will be covered in showy blue flowers--expect another gratuitous flower post in June.

 

Comments

[Skye]

I'm sorry I can't help you with the names of your flowers, but they are such beautiful pictures. I really look forward to the rainy season when I'm in Japan, too, because the hydrangea are so lovely. I've been reading your blog for a while now (just recently started my own) and every time you post flower pictures I wish I had a macro lens for my camera!

[cennia]

wonderful color and great content...

[Yi Hwa]

Thank you for posting these beautiful pictures up! I've been stalking your blog for quite a bit from last year and this is the first time I'm commenting!

Thanks again! :)

[Sean]

The red one is indeed a kind of sweet pea (Lathyrus) but you really need to see the foliage to differentiate them.

For the blue mottled flower it looks almost like some kind of foxglove, though I'm pretty sure I'm wrong on this one.

[Cindy]

Hi Amy,

I love your blog and visit everyday for updates. The shots of the flowers are beautiful, may I ask what kind of camera you use and if you use special lenses for those close up shots?

[Amy]

Skye, your blog looks great so far! That's funny, I though I was the only one who actually likes the rainy season. It's just the most beautiful time of year, everything looks better wet.
I don't have a special macro lens by the way, just a regular digital camera.

Thanks Cennia!

Yi Hwa, thanks for coming out of lurkdom and commenting!

Thank you Sean! I'll check out the foliage next time I see the sweat peas. The other one seems to be Mazus pumilus, but thanks for the guess.

Cindy, thanks for the compliments. Most of these are taken with a Pentax Optio 550, a great camera but it's getting old and I'm having some problems with it. The lavender and yellow flower (8th picture) and the two hydrangeas were shot with my brand-new Pentax W30, which I'm less impressed with but still seems to be a good little camera. No special lenses.