タヌキマメは蝶々のような青紫色の花を咲かせる一方、萼が獣のような毛に覆われ、花後の豆果を揺らすと中の種子が動いて音を鳴らします。
Rattlebox has butterfly-like blue-purple flowers, but its calyx is covered with animal-like hair. When the legume is shaken the seeds inside move and make a sound.
【仮名】タヌキマメ, ヤビャクゴウ
【和名】狸豆, 野百合
【英名】Rattlebox
【学名】Crotalaria sessiliflora
【誕生】05/ ??
【開花】05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11月
【花色】Violet
タヌキマメ
タヌキマメの概要
タヌキマメはマメ科の一年草です。日本では本州から四国、九州、南西諸島まで、国外では朝鮮半島から中国、台湾、フィリピン、マレー半島、インドまで分布。蝶々のような青紫色の花を咲かせる一方、萼が獣のような毛に覆われ、豆果を揺らすと中の種子が動いて音を鳴らします。
タヌキマメの名前
タヌキマメの名前の由来は褐色の長毛に覆われた萼が狸の尻尾に、左右対象の唇形花が狸の顔に見えるから。英名ラトルボックスは「ガラガラ箱」という意味で豆果に由来します。ラテン語の属名クロタラリアも玩具の「ガラガラ」、種小名セシリフローラは「無柄花の」という意味。
タヌキマメの姿形
タヌキマメの茎は直立し、葉は線形の単葉で互生。茎、葉裏、萼に光沢のある細毛が密生します。花は唇形で、上唇が２裂、下唇が３裂。上唇の旗弁が左右に２枚、下唇の翼弁が左右に２枚、舟弁が中央に１枚です。昼過ぎに咲き、夕方に萎々。花後は豆果が熟して種子を散らします。
タヌキマメの利用
タヌキマメは昔、生薬「野百合」として解毒に利用。毒蛇の噛み傷に絞り汁を塗布しました。一方、ピロリジジンアルカロイド類のモノクロタリンやセネシオニンなどを含有。モノクロタリンは肝臓、肺、腎臓に急性毒性があり、セネシオニンは下痢や嘔吐、肝障害を引き起こします。
Rattlebox
Rattlebox is an annual plant in the Fabaceae family. In Japan, it is distributed from Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Nansei Islands, and overseas from the Korean Peninsula to China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and India. It has butterfly-like blue-purple flowers, but its calyx is covered with animal-like hair. When the legume is shaken, the seeds inside move and make a sound.
The Japanese name of Rattlebox means “raccoon bean.” This is because the calyx covered with brown long hair looks like a raccoon’s tail, and the symmetrical lip-shaped flowers look like a raccoon’s face. The English name comes from the legume. The Latin genus name Crotalaria also means “rattle,” and the specific name sessiliflora means “sessile flowered.”
The stems of rattlebox are erect, and the leaves are linear and alternate. The stems, undersides of the leaves, and calyx are densely covered with shiny fine hairs. The flowers are lip-shaped, with two lobes on the upper lip and three lobes on the lower lip. There are two banner on the upper lip, two wing petals on the lower lip, and one boat petal in the center. They bloom in the afternoon and wilt in the evening. After flowering, the legumes ripen and scatter seeds.
Rattlebox was once used as a herbal medicine to detoxify poison. The juice was applied to snakebites. On the other hand, it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids such as monocrotaline and senecione. Monocrotaline is acutely toxic to the liver, lungs, and kidneys, and senecione causes diarrhea, vomiting, and liver damage.
