On February 24th last year, Russia invaded Ukraine. It's been 1 year and 5 months since then.The gunfire hasn't stopped yet. While Ukraine's counter-attack has begun, Russia keeps occupying eastern Ukraine and seeks to divide it to annex to Russia.The winter snow has melted and spring has come late to the Ukrainian land. Spring flowers may have bloomed on bombed sites, in the shadows of broken tanks, and on the walls of trenches. And now that summer is here...I wonder what's going on with the sunflower fields.
Ukraine is currently on the verge of being divided, and there are several
such divided lands in the world. In our neighboring countries, the Republic
of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ) on the Korean Peninsula, and the People's Republic of China and the Republic
of China across the Taiwan Strait. In the past so have West and East Germany
as well as North and South Vietnam. They are children of the Cold War.
From the end of February to the middle of March, I visited Israel and Cyprus, which are (were) such divided lands, in search of early spring flowers. My targets were irises and orchids, but I was able to see other flowers unique to the Mediterranean Sea where is one of the world flora hotspots. In this time, we will deliver the spring flowers of Israel as the first installment. |
The blue line is our route. The red line is the area under effective control.
(Click image to enlarge)
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Acknowledgement: On this trip, I was guided by Ms. Leschner, a former herbarian
at the Hebrew University. Thanks to her escort , I was able to observe
many flowers including rare species. I really appreciate her support and
would like to thank you. |
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The State of Israel was founded in 1948, and is 75 years old this year.
It is the same age as me. In terms of human beings, age 75 is a late-stage
elderly, but in terms of the world, it is a young country born after World
War II. However, its origins lie in the ancient kingdom of Israel in the
11th century BC, which collapsed after being invaded by a neighboring country.
And under the rule of the Roman Empire, the Jewish people who lived in
this area dispersed to the Mediterranean coastal areas, and then to Europe
and Eastern Europe (Diaspora).
As seen in the Great Migration of Germanic peoples, migrant people would
be normally assimilated and lose their ethnic characteristics at the destination,
but Jews continued to believe in Judaism and maintained their identity.
Therefore, they were isolated from their surroundings, discriminated against,
and sometimes massacred like the Holocaust. Persecution is not only in
Nazi Germany, but also in Russia and Poland.
The Jews, who became a landless nation, were affected by the self-determination
that began in the late 19th century, and a movement to return to their
ancestral lands (Zionism) occurred. Initially, it was a small-scale project involving the purchase and cultivation
of barren land, but during World War I, Britain allowed the establishment
of a Jewish state in Palestine in order to raise funds from the wealthy
Jewish class (the Balfour Declaration). The number of immigrants known
as Aliyah increased. (British duplicity by granting independence to the
Arabs also sowed the seeds of the Palestinian conflict that followed).
The immigrants organized communities such as kibbutz and moshabs to develop agricultural land. The population, which was 650,000 at the time of independence, doubled in four years due to the acceptance of immigrants from poor areas. After that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, mass immigration of Russian Jews who obtained the right to move, had occurred and it now exceeds 9 million people. It is a mixed race nation with 80% Jews and 20% Arabs and with complicated internal affairs. |
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The land span is 400km north to south and 130km east to west (the shortest
of the effective control area is 15km), and the width is about the same
size of Shikoku in Japan. The northern part is wet, green and well-irrigated.
On the other hand, the southern half is a dry desert area.
This time, I traveled from north to south, and then again from south to
north, all over the area of effective control. Thanks to the winter rains, flowers such as orchids bloomed profusely in the north, and desert flowers could be observed in the south. |
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Dense forest
(Mount Melon) |
Green Fields
(foot of Mt. Gilboa) |
Bedouin village
(near Gaza) |
Negev Desert
(Egyptian border) |
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Speaking of irises in Japan, many people think of flowers that grow near
water, such as Iris ensata var. ensata ("Hanashobu") and Iris
laevigata ("Kakitsubata"), but they are a minority in the world
of irises. Many of them are poor at water. |
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Iris bismarkiana (Iridaceae) (English name: Nazareth iris)
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Making a dome by erecting three white petals (inner tepals). The lower outer tepals have a dark brown twill pattern. A neat and elegant
flower. However, the body did not reveal its name. It is named after the
Prussian Chancellor Bismarck - the Iron Chancellor.German iris, a cultivar
often seen in Japan, belongs to this group.
This flower section (Oncocyclus) is often found in the Middle East (on
the eastern Mediterranean coast), and five species were observed in Israel
through this trip. The shooting location is a hill near Nazareth in northern Israel. Although thiw area is protected, housing development is progressing in
the surrounding area, and the habitat is shrinking year by year.
Nazareth is said to be the place where Mary received her Annunciation and
where Jesus spent his childhood. Several denominational churches of the
Annunciation are built. |
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Iris haynei
(Gilboa iris)
It blooms on Mount Gilboa near the border of the Jordan River West Bank..
Inner tepals may sometimes be grayish. |
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 Iris atropurpurea
Colors are varying from deep reddish purple to brown. Growing in sand dunes near the coast. Endemic species to Israel.
(South of Tel Aviv)
Iris mariae 
(Negev iris)
Shooting location is north of the Negev Desert near Gaza |
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| (Click any image to enlarge) |
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Iris petrana
(Sand iris)
It grows in the deepest part of the desert near the ruins of Petra in Jordan.
It is protected thanks to military facilities.
It wasn't blooming on the first day I visited, but I was able to meet it
on the way back. |
| These 4 species are the same irises of Oncocculus section as I. Bismarckiana. As you can see from the background, the shooting locations (from top to
bottom) descend from north to south. In order to suppress transpiration from the leaves, the leaves become shorter
and stiffer as you go south. |
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Of course, some irises love wet places. |
Iris grant-duffii
Once it bloomed in the floodplains of northern Israel, but it has been
depleted by agricultural land reclamation. It is now found only in nature reserves near Lake Galilee.
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Japanese yellow iris (Iris pseudocorus) is a naturalized plant brought
over from Europe in the Meiji era. It is prized for its lack of yellow-flowered irises, but many of the cultivated species have escaped, and it has now spread all over the country, and is designated as an 'alien plant requiring special attention'. |
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| The Iridaceae includes 80 genera, including the above-mentioned iris genus,
crocus, freesia, and gladiolus, with more than 1,500 species. Israel also has iris relatives other than the genus Iris. |
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Gynandriris sisyrinchium
(Barbary nuts) |
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A subspecies of the genus Moraea that is widely distributed in South Africa,
and a dwarf iris that is distributed along the Mediterranean coast. The flowers do not bloom until the air gets warmer, and the flowers close
by the evening.
As the English name suggests, the seeds used to be food.
(Haponim Beach Nature Reserve, south of Haifa) |
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When you hear the word “orchid,” you may have an image of “a flower that
blooms in a gloomy, damp tropical forest with flashy colors and shapes.”
I think the image probably comes from the fact that orchids are cultivated
and displayed in the greenhouses of botanical gardens. However, orchids are distributed not only in the tropics but also in temperate
and subarctic zones, and even in alpine zones exceeding 4000m.That's because
orchids are the last runners of angiosperms, the last species to emerge.
When the first orchid sprouts and looks around, older plants are already
occupying suitable places to grow. In order to survive, it has evolved
through a truly tearful effort, such as growing on trees, forming a give-and-take
relationship with specific insects, and sometimes deceiving them. There
are now 1,200 genera and more than 50,000 species in the wild, and they
are extremely prosperous. In addition, many varieties are cultivated as
horticultural species because of the beauty of the flowers, and I think
that perhaps humans are being deceived. I can even feel intelligence in
the evolution process of the orchid.
Orchids that expanded into the semi-arid Mediterranean coast adopted two
different survival strategies. One strategy is to have many florets on
the stem, which can be efficiently pollinated in a single visit by pollinators.
This group belongs to the Orchis genus, which is in the same group as Orchis
graminifolia ("Ucho-ran") and Orchis chidori ("Hinachidori")
in Japan.
Orchis galilaea |
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As the name Galilea suggests, it is native to northern and central Israel
to Turkey.Flower colors vary from white to cream to purple.
It is characterized by the shape of the lip flap, and it looks like a person with both arms and legs outstretched.
(West of Jerusalem)
(Flower head, click to enlarge)
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Orchis papilionacea
(Pink Butterfly Orchid)
Papillon meas butterfly in Latin as its lip petal shape resembles a butterfly. The Japanese name of Orchis graminifolia ("Ucho-ran") containes butterfly (cho).
The naming way of the flower seems to be same regardless of the East or
the West. |
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(at the foot of Mt. Melon) |
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Blooming in bright glassland.
(Gaza and ranches near the border) |
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Orchis anatolica
(Anatolian Orchid)
| Anatolia is a place name in southern Türkiye. There are many kinds of orchids
and irises in Anatolia. |
| The identification depends on the number of spots on the lip.
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(west of Jerusalem)
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Anacamptis pyramidalis
(Pyramid orchid)
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Widely distributed in Europe, not limited to the Mediterranean coast. It
is especially common in England.
As the name Pyramid suggests, it has a triangular spike.
(south of Mount Carmel) |
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| Another strategy is to trick pollinator insects to attract them. The petals (especially the lip petals) are transformed (mimicked) into
female shapes to attract males. Not limited to humans, males who simply want to mate mistakenly think that
petals are females and struggle desperately to mate. At that time, pollens are attached to the back of the male. Unable to reach
its goal, the male flies away in vain. Despite the failure the male finds
another same kind flower and attacks it. While struggling in the same way,
the pollen on the back reaches the style, and the flower is pollinated.
The genus Ophrys, which makes full use of these tricks, is widely distributed
from the Mediterranean coast to Europe. It is also called the bee orchid
because bees often convey pollens. For flowers, pollen of the same kind
can be obtained without fail, and energy for producing nectar can be saved. |
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Ophrys umbilicata
 (North of Jerusalem)
Ophrys transhyrcana
 (south of Mount Carmel) |
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Ophrys fleischmannii
(west of Jerusalem) |
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Ophiris is derived from the Greek word for eyebrow. The hair-like parts on both sides of the lip looked like eyebrows. A male
bee may look at this hair and think it is a female. |
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The trip to Israel had another purpose. It was to get clues about the native habitat of the Madonna lily (Lilium
candidum), a pure white lily dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This species grew naturally from the Balkan Peninsula to the Middle East,
and as Christianity spread to Europe, it was cultivated mainly along the
Mediterranean coast and used in large quantities in churches as a symbol
of purity.
It is susceptible to disease, and conflicts in the Balkans in the late
19th to early 20th centuries made the species extremely difficult to obtain.
The substitute is the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum) of Japan (Okinawa).
Okinoerabu Island, which became the center of exports, was booming for
a period of time. The photo on the right shows the altar of the Church
of Tomb of the Virgin Mary, and the lilies dedecated looks like a hybrid
species of Easter Lily.
Many Japanese lilies, such as the Kanoko lily (Lilium speciosum), were brought to Europe, creating new cultivars such as Casablanca.
In Israel, it is on the verge of extinction due to overhunting and the
closure of forests due to the ban on grazing sheep, but there may be a
few left in the rocky mountains in the north. |
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At this time when I visit, lilies have not yet bloomed, but tulips and fritillaria are flowering in the early spring fields.
Tulips are native to Türkiye and widely distributed from the Middle East
to West Asia. In the 17th century, their bulbs brought to Holland from the Ottoman Turks
soared abnormally, creating bubbles. The bubble burst, but the Netherlands remained as a major producer of tulips.
And Holland became the flower center of the world, with flowers from all
over the world. Dr. Siebold, who returned home from Japan, lived in the
Netherlands because of this flower-rich foundation. The original species
does not have the brilliance of garden varieties, but it has the toughness
of a wild species that has survived a harsh environment. |
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Tulipa agenensis(Haponim Beach, south of Haifa)
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Tulipa systola
Compared to T. agensis, the petals are flat and the leaves are strongly
wavy to prevent transpiration.
It blooms on the hills near the desert kibbutz where Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, lived after leaving office.
(North of the Negev Desert) |
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Tulipa biflora
It stores a little rain in winter and blooms in desert streams where water
flows. 15-20 cm high.
It has two flower stalks, and each stalk bears one flower ('bi', meaning
two in Latin), so it was named 'two flowers'.
(Negev Desert) |
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Fritilaria libanotica
(Alias:Ffritillaria persica) |
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The height is about 1m, and it makes a gorgeous general view. The color of the flower is deep reddish purple, but depending on the individual, it may have a cream-colored flower similar to the Japanese fritillaria. |
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(Tel Arad west of the Dead Sea) |
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Gagea commutata
It bloomed between F. levanochica above. A cute lily family with a height
of about 10 cm.Gagea lutea ("Kibananoamana") of Janap is the
same genus. There are only three species of this family in Japan, but about
200 species are distributed from the Mediterranean coast to Central Asia.
Gagea is named after the British botanist Thomas Gage. |
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Gagea dayana |
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Compaired to the above G. commutata, the petal tips are sharper. Eendemic species to Israel. The genus Gagea is also called the "Star of Bethlehem" because
its 6 petals ( precisely, 3 outer tepals and 3 inner tepals) look like
a star. |
(north of Beer Sheba) |
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The genus Allium and Hyacinth, which were once classified in the Liliaceae,
have been reclassified and moved to different families thanks to advances in analytical techniques such as genetic analysis.
The genus Allium was reclassified to Amaryllidaceae, and the genus Hyacinth
to Asparagaceae.
This is because it likes cold and dry conditions, just like leeks are in
season in winter.
I bury the roots of leeks after cooking on the balcony of my office and grow them as a condiment. In the summer, I sometimes leave it for a
long time to search for flowers, but it survives well. In addition, the
seeds that have fallen well sprout, and the leaves grow thick and green
throughout the year. They are served on my dining table at lunch. |
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Allium tel-avivensis
(Tel-Aviv Garlic)
This species named after Israel's largest commercial city, Tel-Aviv, grows
in sandy areas near the coast. The height is 50 cm, and the flower head is about 10 cm in diameter.
It is endemic to Israel. It resembles Japanese "Tamamurasaki"
(Allium pseudojaponicum).
(South of Tel Aviv) |
(Click to enlarge) |
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Allium neapolitanum |
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As it has the name of Naples widely distributed along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The height is about 25 cm, and the flower stalk is triangular.
(at the foot of Mt. Melon) |
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Allium trifoliatum |
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It gets its name because it has three leaves. This species is also widely
distributed along the Mediterranean coast. Height is about 30 cm.
(north of JerusalemHills) |
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In the Old Testament (Torah), when the people who had escaped from Egypt
led by Moses wandered around the Sinai Peninsula, they complained, ``When
we were in Egypt, we ate meat, fish, melons, and cucumbers, and we never
forgot leeks and garlic" (Numbers 11).
My question: Allium bulbs have the same scent as garlic, so they should
have found them if they looked for ...? But I can't have garlic without
meat... |
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Allium palaestinum |
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It used to be A. neapolitanum, but in recent years it has been reclassfied
as a different species.
The flower stalk of A. neapolitanum is triangular, but that of this species is cylindrical.
(Negev Desert) |
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The origin of hyacinths, which belongs to Asparagaceae, is from the eastern Mediterranean coast to Central Asia. It was cultiated
in 16th century in Holland and came to Japan at the end of the Edo period. |
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Hyacinthus orientalis
(Wild hyacinth) |
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There are more than 2,000 cultivars, but only 3 species in the wild.
You may have experienced hydroponic cultivation of this species during
science class at school when you are young.
(Mount Melon) |
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Hyacinth is named after Hyacynthus in Greek mythology. A beautiful boy and LGBTQ, he was loved by Apollo, who was also the god
of light (Sun), art, and medicine. One day, while Apollo was playing discus,
Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, who was jealous of their relationship,
caused a gust of wind to change the trajectory of the discus, causing it
to hit Hyacynthus on the head and kill him. It is said that this flower
was born from the traces of blood that flowed from its head.
My question: If the flower was born from the blood, it should be a red
flower, so why is it a blue flower? (Some cultivars have red flowers though.....) |
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| Scilla cilicica |
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It is the progenitor of the horticultural variety of Scilla. The origin is the Mediterranean coast like hyacinth, but it is more common
in the western Mediterranean such as Portugal and Algeria.
15-20 cm high. It grows in the shade of limestone rocks.
(Mount Carmel) |
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| Muscari pulchellum |
Muscari is a horticultural species that is indispensable in spring gardens, and it is native to the arid regions along the Mediterranean coast.Thanks to that, it grows well even if left alone and carefree.
Every year, the bulbs grown in my planters are guerrilla transplanting
to roadsides and vacant lots.
(Tel Arad west of the Dead Sea) |
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Ornithogalum trichophyllum |
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Distributed in desert areas along the Mediterranean coast from Libya to Israel.
This flower is also called "Star of Bethlehem". Since the temperature
of the star is higher when it is white, it can be said that it was the
star that shone when Jesus was born.
(Negev Desert) |
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Bellevalia desertorum
Genus Bellvalia is not well known in Japan, but it has cute tubular flowers
about 1cm long. About 65 species spread from Turkey to Israel and Central Asia (12 species
in Israel).
The Negev Desert was once under the sea, so there is a lot of coral-derived
limestone, which is used as material for snail shells. Also, the reddish-color soil contains a lot of iron that erupted from the volcano.
(North of the Negev Desert) |
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Although it is not Asparagaceae but close family of Asphodelaceae which
was formerly a subfamily of the Liliaceae.Aloe also belongs to this family.
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Asphodelus tenuifolius
About 1m tall.
(West of the Dead Sea, Tel Arad)
Asphodelus ramosus
Commonly seen near the roadside
(north of Beer Sheba) |
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Asphodeline lutea
(King's spear)
Height 50-60 cm. Growing in wetlands. Cultivated as a garden cultivar in Europe. The flowers
bloom randomly around the stem and open upwards one after another like
one day flowers.
(Nova Meadow east of Lake Galilee) |
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In early spring, three maidens appear in the fields of Israel. They are sisters, all dressed in red and hard to tell who's who. They went out to the banquet of the prince's wife selection. How are they identified by the prince? - This is an old Jewish fairy tale.
These three sisters, anemone, ranunculus, and poppy, are the Spring Ephemerals,
who appear one after another and then quickly disappear. They are seen
almost all over Israel except in desert areas. Who appears first on the ground? |
Eldest daughter
Anemone coronaria
Ranunculaceae
Coronaria means crown from the white ring around the stamens.Fairy tales say that she wore a white scarf around her neck. It is not present in young flowers, but appears when the flowers reach maturity (when the pollen matures).
(Mount Carmel) |
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This flower has many different cousins. Blue, white, purple, pink and so much variety. However, in the south it is mostly red. Japanese nirinsou is a distant relative.
(Left: Mount Melon, Right: East of Lake Galilee) |
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(Forests South of Nazareth) |
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The second daughter is
Ranunculus asiaticus
Ranunculaceae
The difference from A. Coronaria is that it does not have a crown and has sepals. The fairy
tale says she wore a green belt and put on glossy lipstick, which represents
broad green leaves and glossy petals. Also, ranunculus has a calyx, while anemone does not.
(Haponim beach south of Haifa) |
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Most of the Ranunculus species have yellow flowers (rarely white), but this species has vermillion red flowers.
It's as passionate as "Carmen" in Bizet's opera. |
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The last one to appear is
Papaver umbonatum, which belongs to a different family, Papaveraceae.
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The poppy has black spots (bocci) in the depths of the petals as the fairy tale told she wore a black pearl necklace around her neck. This is a nectar marker that tells insects where to find nectar, and is
often seen in spring ephemerals such as Japanese dog's tooth violet (Erythronium
japonicum). The genus Papaver is generally called poppy, and there are many horticultural
species, but some species such as P. somniferum produces opium. Although she looks quiet, she may be an awkward youngest daughter.
(In the Meadow of East of Ashkelon) |
Looking at the flowers from above
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Well, if you were the prince, who would you choose? |
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In the fairy tale... the prince, fascinated by the three beauties, pondered
for three days, but could not make up his mind. All sisters also fell in love with the prince. They proposed to the prince that all three should become wives on the condition
that they never meet at the same time. The prince gladly accepted the offer, but he asked that they must wear
accessories for each so as not to confuse the three. And in the spring, he visited his wives in the order of anemone, ranunculus,
and poppy.
Now you may be able to distinguish between these three types of flowers.
Oops, I almost forgot there was another secret mistress of the prince. |
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Adonis annua
(Pheasant eye)
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A companion of Adonis ramosa ("Fukujusou" amur adonis). 25 cm tall, flowers about 2 cm in diameter.
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(south of Mount Carmel) |
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In Greek mythology, Adonis was the mistress of Venus. Her husband Hephaestus became jealous and transformed to a bigh boar which
tusked Adonis to death with shedding buckets of blood. When Venus groaned,
the blood flown turned into a red flower.So it is also called Blooddrop. |
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Adonis has a sibline of half brother with different seeds.
Adonis dentata
This is the same yellow color as Amur adonis. He may not be loved by Venus.(Desert area near Gaza) |
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The cherry blossoms in Tokyo bloomed on March 14th this year. 14 days earlier than normal. Japanese northern city, Hirosaki's cherry blossoms, which are in full bloom
during the Golden Week holidays, also bloomed in early April, causing a
panic among people involved in the event, such as food stalls. It seems that the blooming becomes earlier every year. Is this due to global warming?
There is no other plant as the cherry blossom as firmly rooted in the Japanese soil. The representative species, "Someiyoshino" (Prunus x yedoensis),
bloom all at once and compete to fall. Some people say it's the Japanese spirit that values homogeneity, but I don't really like it. This is because it is a cloned plant and does not bear fruit. It is like
a good-looking woman who never love you. It seems to overlap with Japan's declining birthrate and aging population. Eventually, human cloning may occur, as predicted by Jewish historian Yuval Noah Harari.
Let's back to the story.
Almonds herald spring in Israel. Blooms start at the end of January. It is said that Israeli feel spring has come when they see this flower. The floral language is "hope", ancient people felt that they
survived the harsh winter. The cherry blossoms in full bloom in the vast orchard look like pink clouds, just like Yoshino's cherry blossoms. When I visited in early March, it was a little past peak season, but I
was able to enjoy flowers in full bloom everywhere, including mountain
slopes and roadsides. |
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Amygdalus communis Rosaceae
(Common Almond)
There are about 4 species including wild species, but this species is cultivated
for seed production.
(Backyard of the Church of Tomb of the Virgin Mary, Jerusalem) |
（West slope of Jerusalem) |
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Unlike "Someiyoshino", it has flowers pollinated and bears fruits. Nuts are highly nutritious. In addition, since it contains a large amount of vitamin E, which has antioxidant
effect and is useful for preventing aging and preventing oxidation of bad
cholesterol. A Chinese dessert, apricot kernel tofu is made by solidifying almond milk. However, since bitter almonds contain cyanide, they can be poisonous if eaten in large amounts.
Israel's fertility rate is 2.9 (2020), the highest among developed countries. The spread of reproductive medicine and the response against Palestinians' high birth rate (3.57) may be part of the reason, but I personally think
it's because Israeli are eating almonds. |
Cherry blossoms and almonds are trees of Rosaceae, but primrose, which
has the name of "Sakura" (cherry blossom in Japanese), is a grass
of Primulaceae. In Japan, there are many this species with pink flowers such as "Hakusankozakura"(Primula cuneifolia var. hakusanensis) and "Kurin-sou"(Primula japonica-Japanese primrose), but in Israel the colors and shapes are very different from Japanese ones. |
Cyclamen persicum Primulaceae (Persian Cyclamen) |
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It blooms with the petals bent as much as possible like Japanese dog's tooth violet. In Japan, it blooms from early winter to early spring, and is also called
bonfire flower. In Japanese poet "haiku", it is a winter flower, but in the eastern
Mediterranean where it is native, there are spring blooms and autumn blooms.
In the once-popular Japanese song “Cyclamen no Kahori (Scent of Cyclamen)”
(lyrics by K. Ogura) the color changing is described as
cotton white when meeting for the first time
light red when loving each other
light purple when leaving you back
the color changing shows changing mind of woman in love.
The flower has a romantic image, but... It also has the crude name of pork
buns.
The shape of the flower is similar to that of Shooting star (Dodecatheon
meadia) of the primrose family distributed in North America.
(Botanical Garden, BC State University, Canada)
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| (at the foot of Mt. Melon) |
(western hill of Jerusalem) |
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Anagallis arvensis
(Natania Iris Sanctuary) |
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This species is native to central and southern Europe, and is a naturalized
plant that has spread throughout the world including Israel. In Japan, it grows in coastal areas from Okinawa to the Kii Peninsula.
I've seen it on the cliffs of Yonaguni Island - westmost island near Taiwan.
The Japanese name is "Rurihakobe (meaning blue starwort)", but
it belongs to Primulaceae.
The length is about 10 to 20 cm, and the flower diameter is about 5 mm. |
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Naturalized plants have been artificially brought from abroad. Some plants, such as rice, which have been brought to Japan from before
history, but many of them have come after foreign trades flourished. In Japan, it increased rapidly after the Meiji Restoration, and now about
1,200 species are naturalized plants. Most of them belong to the Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae, which are
called the three major naturalized plants. In particular, Fabaceae were brought in as pasture grass and fertilizers as the Meiji government
promoted dairy farming in Hokkaido. Clover (white clover) as its representative, is now commonplace everywhere in Japan.
I saw many Fabaceae in Israel as well. The reason why Fabaceae is resistant to dryness, and I think that the development of dairy farming
by the kibbutz after the establishment of the country also has an effect.
In addition, from the perspective of human history, the Middle East was
on the route through which the ancestors of human beings born in Africa spread to Europe and Asia. I wonder that one of the reasons why they moved from safe forests to grasslands with many dangerous wild animals was because they used beans as food. |
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Trifolium eriosphaerum
There are more than 50 species seen in Israel, 5 of them are endemic.
(west of Natheren)
Trifolium polymorphum
(Mt. Gilboa) |
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Trifolium tomentosum
(north of Jerusalem) |
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If you have traveled by train in Hokkaido of northern Japan you may know
this flower blooming in clusters around station buildings and in the sidings.
I t was introduced from North America as a green manure in the Meiji era, but escaped. Lupine is native to the Mediterranean coast. |
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Lupinus pilosus
It spreads out over fields in Eyakim.
Lupinus palaestinus
Endemic to Israel.
(Netanya Iris Resv.)
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| Astragalus ("Renge-sou") is standard flowers in the countryside in spring, which is rarely seen these days. Some 50 years ago, I once made a wreath of milk vetch at the fully blooming rice fields of Asuka village, Nara, and gave it to a girl I was dating at the time. But unfortunately that girl was a person of praising bread than songs of birds. Astragalus, which blooms in the desert where is an extremely dry world, does not have such sweetness at all. It extends its roots deep into the ground so as not to miss even a single
drop of water. The high mountains of the Himalayas are also arid regions, and the same kind of flower is often seen. |
Astragalus caprinus
Widely spreading in the area of
Mediterranean coast including
North Afric and Israel
(south of Beersheba) . |
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| Fabaceae is a big family of ample number of species with more than 300 species
in Israel alone. Let me introducing some of them. (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Lathyrus blepharicarpos |
Medicago spolymorpha |
Retama raetam |
Anagyris foetida |
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| Geraniaceae is also drought-tolerant plants. It is a relative of "Gennoshoko" (Geranium thunbergii) and "Hakusanfuu"
(Geranium yesoense var. nipponicum) which are native to Japan. |
Geranium tuberosum
(Purple Crane Bill)
| Small flowers about 1 cm in diameter. Native to the Mediterranean coast.
It is also sold as a cultivar, and grows well even untouched. |
(north of Jerusalem) |
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The family name Geraniaceae is come from Geranos in Greek which means "crane". The English name also has crane name. This is because the shape of the
fruit is elongated and resembles the beak of a crane. |
In Israel, I often saw a related genus, Erodium. In Japan, cultivars are
sold under the names of "Dutch Fuuro" and "Hime Fuuro". |
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| Erodium botrys (Netanya Iris Reserve) |
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Erodium telavivense
endemic to Israel.
(on a sandy meadow south of Tel Aviv) |
 Erodium arborescens
Growing in desert areas (middle Mitzperamone). The name comes from the fact that the stems are woody (arborescens). |
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Geranium robertianum
It's very similar to Geranium thunbergii inJapan |
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There is Boraginaceae which is very similar to Geranium. Have you ever heard this scientific name? If yes, you may ever have hemorrhoid.
The hemorrhoid drug Boraginol was made from an extract taken from the root
of this plant. (now manufactured chemically). |
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Echium rauwolfii
Forming large colonies in crater-shaped collapsed riverbeds.
(West of Beersheba) |
Echium plantagineum
Its stamens protrude outside the corolla, as same as the stamens of plantain from which the name comes.
(south of Mount Carmel) |
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Alkanna tinctoria
Looks like constellations scatteredon the earth.
The edges of the leaves are covered with fine hairs.
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Anchusa azurea
This is like a three-dimensional constellation. A butterfly perched on a flower looks like a resupply rocket docking with the ISS. |
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Hormuzakia aggregata
Stems have spiny hairs. Dyes can be extracted from the roots.
(north of Jerusalem) |
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Anchusa aegyptiaca
White flowers of only a few millimeters. As the name suggests, it is distributed in North Africa and the Middle East.
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Onosma frutescens
Many species of the genus Onosma have blue flowers, but this species has yellow flowers. |
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Although not often seen in Japan, there are flowering trees of Cistaceae
that are often seen in the semi-desert areas of central and southern Israel.
When written in Japanese characters, it reads as "half-day flower", which means that the flowering cycle is even faster than the one-day flower that blooms in the morning and fades in the evening. It bears many flowers every day, like rose of Sharon. The petals have wrinkles like paperwork, and the leaves are thin and small. It grows well even in poor soil, and a horticultural variety is produced
under the name of rock-rose.
Helianthemum vesicarium
It is named after the Greek word helios or the Sun.It blooms when the sun rises and fades when the sun sets.
In addition to pink, it has white, rose, and yellow flowers.
The sunflower of the Asteraceae is named Helianthus, also derived from
the Sun. |
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Helianthemum ventosum
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Cistus salviifolius
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| Many other flowers are left unpresented here such as Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae,
Convolvulaceae, and Brassicaceae. But if I show too many at once, you'll
get indigestion, so I'll stop here. I will introduce them on another occasion. |
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