autan's photostream

Ichi-Rin-Sou, 一輪草, Anemone nikoensis

How long I have been waiting for her to come around again. At last, she has come (^_^)

Biggest wild anemone, my most favorite among Japanese spring ephemerals, Japanese name Ichi-rin-sou means "One-flower-plant" because it blossoms only one flower on each plant. I rather loves Latin name, Anemone nikoensis.

Nikoensis came from Nikko, the mountainous area north of Tokyo with gorgeous variety of geomorphology, flora and fauna, and also with famous Tosho gu, the main shrine of Shogun family. No doubt, with its location, definitely the No.1 National park in Japan.

This latin name "Amemone of Nikko", I love deeply with beautiful sound and image or gorgeous nature there, and this precious pure lady deserves the name.

Oh by the way, Nikko and Nikon or Nikkor has no relation. "Nikon" is after former company's name "Nihon Kougaku" (Japan optics), former main optics workshop of Japan Empire Military.

Tukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, April 2008
Nikon D70s / Sigma 150 macro

Ichi-Rin-Sou, 一輪草, Anemone nikoensis

This species has fairly wide variety in flower or leaf shapes. This place's population has much bigger and with much varied petal shape.

Tukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, April 2008
Nikon D70s / Sigma 150 macro

Ichi-Rin-Sou, 一輪草, Anemone nikoensis

The back of petal has purple pinkish color, So it has another name, Ura-beni-ichi-ge, 裏紅一華, which means "Back-crimson-one-blossom"'. Leaves have beautiful dotted pattern, which is often seen in ephemerals, may be adoption to fragmented sunlight, or sun flake condition.

"Epemerals" is one ecotype or "life strategy" of forest bed plant. Between it becomes warm until deciduous trees open their leaves and forest bed becomes, during early spring, they mainly do photosynthesis for the year and some would soon die away leaves or even stems. Mostly have bulbs to hold nutrients that they produced in early spring. Typical popular one is tulip, you know (^_^)

Tukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, April 2008
Nikon D70s / Sigma 150 macro

Ichi-Rin-Sou, 一輪草, Anemone nikoensis

She comes around every spring. It is because a beautiful girl promised to an old man, on leaving him, to come back every spring as pure white flower.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO9Ild2cvdg

Tukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, April 2008
Nikon D70s / Sigma 150 macro

Isu Yoshino, 伊豆吉野, Prunus×yedoensis cv. Izu−yoshino

Purely white cherry with plenty of clouding flowers. The basic specise P.x yedoensis is most common planted Japanese cherry Somei-Yoshio.

This cherry had created in the experiment by Dr. Takenaka, as hybrid between Edo-higan and Oshima-zakura, in national research institute of genetics. The experiment gave an end to the mystery on origin of Somei Yoshino, This cherry looks different from Somei Yoshino, but most of the morphological elements matched, so parents of Somei Yoshino was proved to be said two cherries.

Related description at ;;;
www.flickr.com/photos/autanex/2382077329/

"Izu" in the name is attached because if natural hybridazation happened, it must have been in Izu peninsula, where both of parents species grows naturally, and may be, it is also, National Institute of Genetics is at Numazu city, the entrance of Izu Peninsula.

This cherry is not so much planted but in botanic garden it is planted as important species in the history of botany, and sometimes seen in the park mixed with Somei Yoshino.

Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Apr 2008
Nikon D70s / Sigma 150 macro