６月１１日（月曜日）２０１８
ホタルブクロと菖蒲（しょうぶ）をS.Kさんからいただいて、すぐに写真を撮ったのですがレポートが遅くなってしまいました。ふわっと優しいこの花が何か分からず名前を聞いて「ホタルブクロ」と知りました。うつむいて咲くボタルブクロの花は関東は赤紫、関西は白が多いそうです。名前の由来を調べると二説ありました。一つはホタルを捕まえて花の中に入れて遊んだのが由来とする説。もう一つは提灯のことを「火垂る袋」と呼ぶ地方があり、形がそれに似ているからという説。キキョウ科の花だそうです。紫の菖蒲もピンと背筋を伸ばしてイキで、こちらまで気持ちがシャキッとしてきます。Ms. S.K brought me Hotaru-bukuro (Campanula punctata) and Shoobu (Acorus calamus). Since it was the first time I saw these gentle puffy flowers, I asked what their name was to Ms. S.K. She let me know that it is called Hotarubukuro (lit. bag of fireflies). Flowers are blooming pointing downward and the purple flower blooms mostly in the Kanto area of Japan and the white one in the Kansai area. I was curious about the name of Hotarubukuro. According to the web, there are two reasons. One is because people used to play by catching fireflies and putting them into these flowers. Other is because there is a region where people called a type of lantern Hotarubukuro (bag of firefly) and this flower is of a similar shape. The stalk of the purple Acorus calamus is nicely straight and it makes me feel refreshed.
