オシロイバナは種の中に白い粉が入っており、昔から子どもたちのお化粧ごっこに使われますが、毒を含んでいるので注意が必要です。
Marvel of Peru is a seed that contains white powder and has been used for children’s makeup for a long time, but it contains poison, so be careful.
【仮名】オシロイバナ
【和名】白粉花, 白粧花
【英名】Marvel of Peru, Four O’clock Flower
【学名】Mirabilis jalapa
【誕生】07/ 28, 08/ 01, 08/ 02, 08/ 23
【開花】07, 08, 09月
【花色】White, Pink, Red, Yellow, Orange
オシロイバナ
オシロイバナはオシロイバナ科の多年草です。南米原産で江戸時代始めごろに渡来。高さ70cmくらいまで大きくなり、花は美しく、香りもあります。観賞用に栽培される一方、野生化も拡大。夕方から花を咲かせ、翌朝10時ごろまで咲いています。
オシロイバナは夕方に花を咲かせるので英語でFour o’clock（午後４時）と、また一株からいろいろな色の花を咲かせるのでMarvel of Peru（ペルーの不思議）と呼ばれます。オシロイバナの花言葉「臆病」「内気」は人目を避けるように夕方から咲き始めるから。もう一つの花言葉「恋を疑う」は同じ株から赤や白といった違う色の花をつけるからです。
オシロイバナの種は取りやすく、割ると中に白い粉が入っているため、昔から子どもたちのお化粧ごっこに用いられました。さらに、花びらを潰した汁を爪に塗るマニュキア遊びもあります。爪に付いた色は水で洗えば落ちます。
古くから子どもたちになじみの深いオシロイバナですが、草全体、特に根や種にはトリゴネリンという毒があります。誤って口に入れてしまうと、嘔吐や腹痛、下痢といった中毒症状を起こすので注意が必要です。
冒頭の画像は色調を加工していませんが、深いピンク色が鮮烈。さらに毒を忍ばせていると思えば、まさに夜に映えそうな花ですね。
Marvel of Peru
Marvel-of-Peru is a perennial plant of the family Marvel-of-Peru. Originally from South America, it came to Japan around the beginning of the Edo period. It grows up to about 70 cm in height, and the flowers are beautiful and fragrant. While cultivated for ornamental purposes, it is becoming more wild. It blooms in the evening and blooms until around 10 o’clock the next morning.
Marvel-of-Peru is called Four o’clock (4 pm) in English because it blooms in the evening, and Marvel of Peru because it blooms flowers of various colors from one plant. The flower words “cowardly” and “shyness” of Marvel-of-Peru are beginning to bloom in the evening so as to avoid the public eye. Another flower word, “doubt love,” is because the same strain produces flowers of different colors such as red and white.
Marvel-of-Peru seeds are easy to pick up and have white powder inside when broken, so they have long been used for children’s makeup. There is also a manicure play where you apply crushed petal juice to your nails. The color on your nails can be removed by washing with water.
Marvel-of-Peru is familiar to children for a long time, but the whole grass, especially the roots and seeds, has a poison called trigonelline. If you accidentally put it in your mouth, you should be careful as it may cause addiction symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
The image at the beginning is not processed in color, but the deep pink color is vivid. If you think that it is even more poisonous, it is a flower that looks like it will shine at night.
