トサミズキの花言葉は「伝言」。妖精のような淡い黄色の小花が集まって、おしゃべりしているような花穂が枝からたくさん垂れ下がります。
The flower language of Spike Winter Hazel is “Message”. The inflorescence is a bunch of pale yellow flowers that look like fairies chatting away. Many such inflorescences hang down from the branches.
【仮名】トサミズキ, ロウベンカ
【和名】土佐水木, 蝋弁花
【英名】Spike Winter Hazel
【学名】Corylopsis spicata
【誕生】03/ 18
【開花】03, 04月
【花色】Yellow
トサミズキ
トサミズキの概要
トサミズキはマンサク科の落葉低木です。高知県の蛇紋岩地帯や石灰岩地帯の痩せ地で自生。丈夫で育てやすく、江戸時代から全国に栽培が広がりました。花言葉は「伝言」。妖精のような淡い黄色の小花が集まって、おしゃべりしているような花穂が枝からたくさん垂れ下がります。
トサミズキの和名
トサミズキの和名の由来は、高知県の旧称「土佐」地域で自生しているからで、枝を切ると「水」のように樹液が流れ出す「木」です。葉の形がミズキ科の「水木」に似ているからとも。枝からたくさん垂れ下がる花穂が蝋細工のように美しいので、「蝋弁花」という別名もあります。
トサミズキの英名
トサミズキの英名スパイク・ウィンター・ヘーゼルは「穂状に垂れ下がる花が、冬のように寒い春から咲く、葉が榛に似た木」といった意味です。ラテン語の属名コリロプシスは「榛に似た」という意味で、葉の形に由来。種小名スピカタは「穂状の」という意味で花序に由来します。
トサミズキの姿形
トサミズキは細い幹が叢状に立ち上がり、灰褐色の枝が伸びます。花は花弁が５枚、雄しべが５本、雌しべが２裂。苞葉から房状に連なって垂れ下がります。花後に生える葉は厚みのある卵円形で、側脈が目立ち、縁が波状で互生。球形の蒴果は熟すと細長い黒色の種子を散らします。
Spike Winter Hazel
Spike Winter Hazel is a deciduous shrub of the Hamamelidaceae family. It grows wild in the poor soil of serpentine and limestone areas of Kochi Prefecture. It is hardy and easy to grow, so its cultivation has spread throughout the country since the Edo period. The flower language is “Message”. The inflorescence is a bunch of pale yellow flowers that look like fairies chatting away. Many such inflorescences hang down from the branches.
The Japanese name of Spike Winter Hazel means “a tree that grows wild in Kochi Prefecture, and when the branches are cut, sap flows out like water”. It also means “the shape of the leaves resembles Cornus controversa”. The flower spikes that hang down from the branches are as beautiful as waxwork, so it is also known as the “flower with waxy petals.”
The English name Spike Winter Hazel means “a tree with leaves resembling those of a hazel tree, whose spike-like flowers bloom in the cold spring like winter.” The Latin genus name Corylopsis means “resembling a hazel tree” and is derived from the shape of the leaves. The specific name spicata means “spike-like” and is derived from the inflorescence.
Spike Winter Hazel has a slender trunk that rises in a clump-like shape, and gray-brown branches extend from it. The flower has five petals, five stamens, and two-lobed pistils. The flowers hang down in clusters from the bracts. The leaves that grow after the flowers are thick and oval, with prominent lateral veins, wavy edges, and alternate. The spherical capsules scatter long, thin black seeds when ripe.
