春の荒山公園 ２ (Kōzen Park in Spring 2)

　写真1枚目は荒山公園内のソメイヨシノ、2枚目は同園内のソメイヨシノとオオシマザクラが交互に植えられている並木道（花と同時に若葉をつけているのがオオシマザクラ）、3枚目は同園内の梅林中に妻が見つけたオオイヌノフグリ。

　ちょうど昨10日付けの朝日紙「天声人語」欄にオオイヌノフグリの話が載っていた。木下利玄の短歌「根ざす地の温（ぬく）みを感じいちはやく空いろ花咲けりみちばた日なたに」「夕づける風冷えそめぬみちばたの空いろ小花（おばな）みなみなつぼむ」にある「空色の花」がオオイヌノフグリ。その名を不憫に思う人たちが「ほしのひとみ」という別名を提案したが、植物学者の長田武正さんは「こうなると今度はきれいごとすぎて、土の香りが欠けてしまう」と随筆に書いた、など。

The photos show, from the top to the bottom, somei-yoshino blossoms in Kōzen park, the rows of alternating somei-yoshino and oshima cherry trees in the park (the latter kind shows blossoms and young green leaves at the same time), and Persian speedwells my wife found in the ume grove of the park.

The "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" column of yesterday's Asahi Shimbun just carried the following story about Persian speedwells:

Rigen Kinoshita wrote these tanka poems: "As soon as they sensed the warmth of the soil around their roots / the sky-blue flowers bloomed on the sunny roadside," and "As the late afternoon wind turns chilly / little sky blue flowers on the wayside close up one by one." The sky blue flowers in these poems are Persian speedwells, whose Japanese name is ōinu no fuguri — literally, "big dog's testicles." Some people who took pity on this plant for its terrible name once suggested that it be changed to "hoshi no hitomi" or "starry eye." But botanist Takemasa Osada disagreed, noting in his essay, "Such a name is phony because it seems too pretty, and it doesn't match the plant's endearingly down-to-earth personality." [This story has been adapted from the official English translation, which was entitled, "Spring flowers help us to appreciate life," (April 12, 2011) after its appearance on the asahi.com Web site.]