ミツマタの漢名は「黄瑞香」で「黄色の沈丁花」という意味。小花が半球状に集まり、周縁から中心へと咲き進み、清楚な芳香を漂わせます。
Chinese name of Paper Bush means “Yellow Winter Daphne”. Small flowers gather in a hemispherical shape and bloom from the periphery to the center, giving off a neat and clean fragrance.
【仮名】ミツマタ
【和名】三椏, 三又, 三叉
【英名】Paper Bush, Oriental Paper Bush, Mitsumata
【学名】Edgeworthia chrysantha
【誕生】02/ 15, 03/ 20
【開花】03, 04月
【花色】Red, Yellow, Orange
ミツマタ
ミツマタの来歴
ミツマタはジンチョウゲ科の落葉低木。原産地は中国中南部～ヒマラヤです。日本へは古くに製紙用として持ち込まれ、各地で栽培される一方、観賞用としても定着。樹皮から採れる丈夫な繊維で作られた和紙は、擦れや折り曲げに強く、今でも紙幣、証書、地図などに用いられます。
ミツマタの名前
ミツマタの名前の由来は毎年、新しい枝が３つに分かれながら伸びるから。漢名は「黄瑞香」で、「黄色の沈丁花」という意味です。ラテン語の属名エッジワーシアは19世紀のアイルランドの植物学者マイケル・エッジワースに由来。種小名クリサンサは「黄色の花」という意味です。
ミツマタの姿形
ミツマタの枝は時とともに樹皮が緑色から褐色へと変わります。葉は細長い楕円形で互生。花は小花が半球状に集まり、周縁から中心へと咲き進み、清楚な芳香を漂わせます。花弁のように見えるのは萼筒で先が４裂、雄しべが８本。花後は楕円体の堅果を結び、種子が１つ入ります。
ミツマタの利用
ミツマタは万葉集で「さきくさ」と呼ばれました。その由来は枝が３つに分かれるので「三枝」、早春に花が咲くので「先草」、縁起の良い花なので「幸草」。毒性のあるクマリンを含むものの、かつては生薬として花の蕾が眼や声の病に、根が早漏や勃起不全などに用いられました。
Paper Bush
Origin of Paper Bush
Paper Bush is a deciduous shrub of Thymelaeaceae family. It is native to central and southern China to the Himalayas. It was brought to Japan long ago for papermaking, and while it was cultivated in various places, it was also established as an ornamental. Japanese paper, made from strong fibers extracted from tree bark, is resistant to abrasion and bending, and is still used for banknotes, certificates, and maps.
Name of Paper Bush
The Japanese name of Paper Bush means “three branch”, because each year, a new branch grows while splitting into three. The Chinese name of Paper Bush means “Yellow Winter Daphne”. The Latin genus name Edgeworthia comes from the 19th-century Irish botanist Michael Edgeworth. The species name Chrysantha means “yellow flower”.
Shape of Paper Bush
The bark of Paper Bush branches turns from green to brown over time. The leaves are long and elliptical and alternate. Small flowers gather in a hemispherical shape and bloom from the periphery to the center, giving off a neat and clean fragrance. The calyx tubes that look like petals have 4 cleft tips and 8 stamens. After flowering, an ellipsoidal nut is formed, containing one seed.
Use of Paper Bush
Paper Bush is called “Sakikusa” in Manyoshu, which is the oldest extant collection of Japanese poems. Sakikusa has multiple meanings, such as the branch splitting into three, the flower blooming in early spring, and the auspicious flower. Although it contains toxic coumarin, it was once used as a herbal medicine, with flower buds used for eye and voice ailments, and roots used for premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction.
