#Lysichiton camtschatcense Schott

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

Spring’s got me some kind of way.

#flowers #native wildflowers #enreisō #Trillium apetalon Makino #mizubashō #Lysichiton camtschatcense Schott #ezo engosaku #Corydalis ambigua Cham. et Schltdl

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

A Floral Calendar of the North Country #4

Lysichiton camtschatcense Schott, common name Asian Skunk Cabbage

On the way home from Wakkanai—back when train cars swayed like pendulums—the train ran from Bakki up the hill, past Yūchi, all the way to the Kabuto Pond Station.  On the other side of the station stretched the surface of the Kabuto Pond, and beyond it, one could see the top of Rishiri-fuji.  It was a limited express train, so it didn’t stop there.  Swaying from side to side, it passed a grove of Japanese alders on the right.  

And on that forest floor, well, wasn’t it just filled to the brim with enormous skunk cabbage leaves?!  It was a breathtaking sight, and I tried to draw a picture in my head of the time I saw those flowers bloom.  

Time flows on, and there were countless opportunities to go—it’s not far from here to Kabuto Pond.  It’s quite close, actually.  But then suddenly and without warning, it was possibly the blooming time in that breeding ground for skunk cabbage, so away I hurried.  

The area surrounding Kabuto Pond had been completely transformed, and the usual farm roads and bushes were no more; it had become a campground.  Would the grove of alders near the train tracks still be there?  

It was!  In great condition too!  And all over, it was filled to the brim with skunk cabbages.  The forest floor was submerged in a shallow flow of flowers, their spathes glowing in the sunlight.  Superb!  That was the word for it.  

#rejecttyranny #fridaywriteday #translation #is good for the heart-mind #and so is skunk cabbage #also I had to look up the word spathe in English #because I did not know it #thanks flower book