コマツヨイグサは「小さな待宵草」。一夜限りの小さな花を咲かせることから、「初恋の思い出」や「ほのかな恋」という花言葉があります。
The Japanese name of Cutleaf Evening Primrose means “small flowers that blooms at night”. As it blooms small flowers that only last one night, its flower language is “memories of first love” and “faint love”.
【仮名】コマツヨイグサ
【和名】小待宵草
【英名】Cutleaf Evening Primrose
【学名】Oenothera laciniata
【誕生】06/ 02
【開花】05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10月
【花色】Yellow
コマツヨイグサ
コマツヨイグサの概要
コマツヨイグサはアカバナ科の⼆年草。原産地は北米で、世界中の温帯～亜熱帯に分布しています。日本へは明治時代に渡来し、昭和時代に本州の関東以西、四国、九州へと拡大。一夜限りの小さな花を咲かせることから、「初恋の思い出」や「ほのかな恋」という花言葉があります。
コマツヨイグサの名前
コマツヨイグサは「小さな待宵草」という意味。待宵草は「宵を待つ草」で、夜になると花が咲きます。ラテン語の属名オエノセラは「野獣のワイン」という意味。根にワインのような香りがあります。種小名ラシニアータは「細かく分裂した」という意味。葉の切れ込みを表します。
コマツヨイグサの姿形
コマツヨイグサの根は太く深く伸び、茎は分枝しながら這い伸びます。葉は根生葉がヘラ形で有柄、茎生葉が披針形で互生。縁が不定形に波打ちます。花は花弁が４枚、雄しべが８本、雌しべが４裂。夕方咲いて、朝方萎れます。花後は円柱形の蒴果を結び、熟すと裂けて種子を散布。
コマツヨイグサの近縁
コマツヨイグサの近縁種「待宵草」は、同じような黄色の花が咲くものの、茎が這わずに直立し、葉が細く伸びます。「大待宵草」は茎に剛毛と赤色の斑点があり、花が大きく、萎れても黄色のまま。「雌待宵草」は葉先が尖り、その変種「荒地待宵草」は花弁どうしが離れています。
Cutleaf Evening Primrose
Cutleaf Evening Primrose is a biennial plant of the Onagraceae family. It is native to North America and is distributed in temperate to subtropical regions around the world. It was introduced to Japan during the Meiji period, and expanded to the Kanto region and west of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu during the Showa period. As it blooms small flowers that only last one night, its flower language is “memories of first love” and “faint love”.
The Japanese name of Cutleaf Evening Primrose means “small flowers that blooms at night”. The Latin genus name Oenothera means “wine of the beast”, and the roots have a wine-like scent. The specific name laciniata means “finely divided” and refers to the cuts in the leaves.
Cutleaf Evening Primrose has thick, deep roots, and its stems branch and creep. The basal leaves are spatulate and stalked, while the stem leaves are lanceolate and alternate. The edges of the leaves are irregularly wavy. The flowers have four petals, eight stamens, and four-lobed pistils. The flowers bloom in the evening and wilt in the morning. After flowering, they form a cylindrical capsule that splits open when ripe and scatters seeds.
A closely related species of Cutleaf Evening Primrose, “Oenothera stricta,” blooms with similar yellow flowers, but its stems do not creep, but stand upright, and its leaves grow thin. “Oenothera glazioviana” has bristly hairs and red spots on the stems, large flowers, and remain yellow even when wilted. “Oenothera biennis” has pointed leaves, and its variant “Oenothera parviflora” has petals that are separated from each other.
