オオベニゴウカンの和名の由来は花が合歓木に似ながら合歓木より大きく赤色だから。紅の筆先が空に向かって解けたような花を咲かせます。
The Japanese name for Powderpuff Tree means “a silk tree with large, red flowers.” The flowers bloom like the tip of a red-dyed makeup brush, unraveling toward the sky.
【仮名】オオベニゴウカン, アカバナブラシマメ
【和名】大紅合歓
【英名】Powderpuff Tree, Red Powderpuff
【学名】Calliandra haematocephala
【誕生】12/ 22
【開花】01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 12月
【花色】White, Red
オオベニゴウカン
オオベニゴウカンの概要
オオベニゴウカンはマメ科ベニゴウカン属の常緑低木。原産地は南米のボリビアで19世紀以降、観賞用として世界各地に広がり、熱帯～温帯域に植えられました。日本へは明治時代に持ち込まれ、温室や暖地の庭園などで栽培。紅の筆先が空に向かってほどけたような花を咲かせます。
オオベニゴウカンの名前
オオベニゴウカンの和名の由来は、花が「合歓木」に似ながら合歓木より大きく赤色だから。英名パウダーパフ・ツリーは「粉はたきのような花が咲く木」という意味です。属名カリアンドラは「美しい雄しべ」、種小名ヘマトケファラは「血のような赤色の頭花をもつ」という意味。
オオベニゴウカンの姿形
オオベニゴウカンは主幹から早めに分枝して丸みのある樹形。葉は互生の２回羽状複葉で鈍い光沢があります。花は小花が集まり、雄しべが放射状に伸びて半球形。小花は長い雄しべが20～40本で目立つ一方、小さな花弁が５枚、短い雌しべが１本で目立ちません。花後は豆果を結実。
オオベニゴウカンの空似
オオベニゴウカンに似ている「合歓木」は、遠縁のネムノキ属でありながら、同じマメ科。羽状複葉で小葉が並び、長い雄しべでポンポン状の花が咲きます。違いは、樹が高く、傘状に広がって雄大な一方、葉が小さく、冬に落ちて儚げ。花も柔らかな扇状で、優しい白色～桃色です。
Powderpuff Tree
Powderpuff Tree is an evergreen shrub in the Fabaceae family. Native to Bolivia in South America, it has spread throughout the world for ornamental purposes since the 19th century, planted in tropical and temperate regions. It was introduced to Japan during the Meiji period and cultivated in greenhouses and warm-climate gardens. The flowers bloom like the tip of a red-dyed makeup brush, unraveling toward the sky.
The Japanese name for Powderpuff Tree means “a silk tree with large, red flowers.” The English name comes from the tree’s flowers like powder puff. The genus name Calliandra means “beautiful stamens.” The specific epithet haematocephala means “having blood-red flowerheads.”
Powderpuff trees branch early from the main trunk and develop a rounded shape. The leaves are alternate, bipinnate, and compound, with a dull sheen. The flowers are clusters of small florets with radially extending stamens, forming a hemispherical shape. The florets are conspicuous with 20-40 long stamens, but are inconspicuous with five small petals and a single short pistil. After flowering, the plant produces legumes.
The “silk tree,” which is similar to the powderpuff tree, is a distantly related member of the Albizia genus, but also of the Fabaceae family. Its pinnate compound leaves are arranged with leaflets, and its long stamens produce pom-pom-shaped flowers. The difference is its tall, umbrella-shaped, majestic tree, but its small, ephemeral leaves, which fall in winter. The flowers are also soft, fan-shaped, and a gentle white to pink color.
