ホタルカズラの花は、青紫色の花冠が５裂、白色の筋が５稜です。咲き始めが赤紫色、咲き終わりが青色。送受粉を終えても花が落ちません。
Lithospermum zollingeri flowers have five lobes of a violet corolla and five white stripes. They start to bloom purple and finish to blue. The flowers do not fall off even after pollination.
【仮名】ホタルカズラ
【和名】蛍葛, 蛍蔓
【英名】Lithospermum zollingeri
【学名】Lithospermum zollingeri
【誕生】03/ 20
【開花】04, 05月
【花色】Purple, Violet, Blue
ホタルカズラ
ホタルカズラの概要
ホタルカズラはムラサキ科の常緑多年草です。日本では北海道、本州、四国、九州、南西諸島、国外では朝鮮半島、中国、台湾に分布。陽当たりのよい山野で自生しています。花は咲き始めが赤紫色、咲き終わりが青色。送受粉を終えても花が落ちません。花言葉は「高潔」「企み」。
ホタルカズラの名前
ホタルカズラの和名の由来は、叢で咲く青紫色の花々や、花冠中央の星形模様を、「蛍」の光に喩えたから。「葛」は蔓性植物です。ラテン語の属名リソスペルマムは「石のように硬い種子」という意味。種小名ゾリンゲリはスイスの植物学者ハインリヒ・ツォリンガーへの献名です。
ホタルカズラの姿形
ホタルカズラは地下で根茎が這い伸び、地上で走出枝が這い伸び、走出枝の先端でも新たに根茎を伸ばします。葉は長楕円形〜披針形で、根生葉が疎生、茎生葉が互生。花茎を立ち上げます。花は青紫色の花冠が５裂、白色の筋が５稜、雄しべが５本。花後は分果（堅果）を結びます。
ホタルカズラの利用
ホタルカズラの堅果は中国で生薬「地仙桃」として健胃や鎮痛に用いられます。胃酸の逆流、寒さによる胃の痛み、打撲傷、骨折など。根茎は日本で万葉の時代に染料として用いられました。一方、生育環境の変化によって絶滅が危惧されるまで衰退。各地で保全が試みられています。
Lithospermum zollingeri
Lithospermum zollingeri is an evergreen perennial plant of the Boraginaceae family. In Japan, it is found in Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Nansei Islands, and overseas in the Korean Peninsula, China, and Taiwan. It grows wild in sunny mountains and fields. The flowers start to bloom purple and finish to blue. The flowers do not fall off even after pollination. The flower language is “nobility” and “planning.”
The Japanese name of Lithospermum zollingeri means “firefly vine plant.” This is because the violet flowers that bloom in a clump and the star-shaped pattern in the center of the corolla are likened to the light of a firefly. The Latin genus name Lithospermum means “stone-hard seeds.” The specific name zollingeri is a tribute to the Swiss botanist Heinrich Zollinger.
Lithospermum zollingeri grows underground as rhizomes and aboveground as runners. The tips of the runners also grow new rhizomes. The leaves are oblong to lanceolate, with sparse basal leaves and alternate cauline leaves. Then, the flower stalks rise. The flowers have a violet corolla with five lobes, five white stripes, and five stamens. After flowering, the nuts form.
The nuts of Lithospermum zollingeri are used as a herbal medicine in China for stomach health and pain relief. They are effective for acid reflux, stomach pain due to cold, bruises, and fractures. The rhizomes were used as a dye in Japan during the Manyo period. However, due to changes in their habitat, they are now in danger of extinction, and conservation efforts are being made in various places.
