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Sweet flag

A perennial plant of the Araceae family. Called shobu in Japanese, a name that can also refer to hanashobu flowers of the Iridaceae family.

A perennial plant of the Araceae family, Acorus calamus var. angustatus, with a distinctive fragrance. Now called shobu in Japanese, older names for the plant include ayame and ayamegusa. Forms colonies, growing in locations such as the edges of ponds and rivers in all regions of Japan. Its rhizomes are pale red and thick, spreading across the ground surface. Leaves are biseriate, reciprocal, sword-shaped and linear, with lengths of about 70 cm. In early summer, flower stems grow from between the leaves and produce dense arrangements of small, pale yellow flowers that form cylindrical spadices.

Due to its perfumed fragrance, it is believed to have the power to repel noxious vapors and pestilence. For the Boy’s Day Festival (Tango no Sekku, May 5), the leaves have been cut into the shapes of arrow feathers and inserted in the hair, wrapped around the head like headbands, tied in bundles and inserted in the eaves of houses, etc. to provide ceremonial cleansing effects. They are also added to bathwater to make shobu-yu baths and to sake to make shobu-zake.

Sweet flag has been mentioned in poetry dating back as far as the Manyoshu (“Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves”), and works completed in the Heian Period (794–1185) such as Makura no Soshi (“The Pillow Book”) and Kagero Nikki (“The Mayfly Diary”) describe Tango no Sekku customs that make use of the plant. In the days of samurai, due to the sword-like shape of the leaves and the way the name echoes the pronunciation of a homonym, shobu (military spirit), events like shobu-uchi were held, a game involving slapping the leaves on the ground to make the loudest sound, and the plant came to be associated with the seasonal festival held for boys.

A different plant, the hanashobu Japanese iris flower (Iris ensata var. ensata) of the Iridaceae family is also sometimes called shobu, and the word shobu-en refers to a garden with hanashobu flowers. This flower, a cultivar developed from improvement of the nohanashobu (I. ensata var. spontanea) that grows wild in Japan, produces beautiful flowers with colors including purple, white, and variegated hues. Leaves are sword-shaped and grow in biseriate, alternate arrangements. Though similar in appearance to other Japanese irises such as kakitsubata (I. laevigata) and ayame (I. sanguinea), kakitsubata is aquatic and ayame terrestrial. Hanashobu itself grows both on land and in the water.

Cultivar improvement flourished in the Edo Period (1603–1868), producing a diverse range of flower varieties with differing colors, shapes, sizes, and other characteristics. The Horikiri district in Katsushika City, Tokyo is a famous location for viewing hanashobu flowers and provided the setting for woodblock prints by many ukiyo-e artists, including Hiroshige Utagawa.

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Sweet flag

Japanese iris

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Sweet flag

Japanese iris

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Institutions and External Links

  • 東京都葛飾区にある植物園。昔から花菖蒲の名所として知られ、その種類は約200種、6000株におよぶ。6月上旬から中旬が見頃。

  • 明治神宮御苑の菖蒲田では、約150種、1500株の花菖蒲が咲く。明治12年(1879)に堀切の江戸花菖蒲を移し開設された。

  • 国立科学博物館附属自然教育園内に生息している生物の種名や写真を調べることができる。

  • 国立科学博物館筑波実験植物園内の植物を検索することができる。研究者ノートなど専門的な解説もあり。

  • 熊本大学薬学部 薬草園内の薬用植物を検索できるデータベース。ショウブとハナショウブのページもあり、写真とともに薬効や用途などが解説されている。

  • 1000種類以上の植物、花の名前がわかる植物図鑑。ハナショウブの種類や育て方などについて、「趣味の園芸」講師陣の専門家が執筆している。

References

  1. 山田卓三, 中嶋信太郎 著,北隆館
  2. 木村陽二郎 監修,植物文化研究会, 雅麗 編,柏書房
  3. 平田喜信, 身崎寿 著,東京堂出版