ノシランの花は弓のような花茎から紐のように伸びた花柄に着き、下向きに咲きます。花後は長球形の種実が緑色から水色、群青色へと変化。
White Lilyturf has a bow-like flower stalk and a string-like peduncle, where the flowers bloom downward. After flowering, the spheroidal seeds change from green to light blue to ultramarine blue.
【仮名】ノシラン
【和名】熨斗蘭
【英名】White Lilyturf
【学名】Ophiopogon jaburan
【誕生】08/ 25
【開花】07, 08, 09月
【花色】White, Violet
ノシラン
ノシランの生態
ノシランはキジカクシ科ジャノヒゲ属の常緑多年草です。日本では関東以西の本州から四国、九州、南西諸島まで、国外では韓国の済州島に分布し、おもに海岸近くの林内で自生。広く西日本の気候・風土に適応し、暑さ寒さや被陰にも強いので、和風庭園の下草などに用いられます。
ノシランの名前
ノシランの名前の由来は、葉が縁起物に添える飾り「熨斗」に、花が蘭に似ているからです。また、花茎が平たく「伸し」ているからとも。ラテン語の属名オフィオポゴンは、「蛇の髭」という意味で、日本語の属名の直訳です。種名ヤブランはヤブラン属の「藪蘭」に似ているから。
ノシランの形態
ノシランの葉は地際から生えて細長く厚く、先のほうの縁に細かなギザギザ入り。花は弓のような花茎から紐のように伸びた花柄に着き、花被片６枚で下向きに反り返って咲きます。花後は長球形の種実を結び、緑色から水色、群青色へと変化。根は横に伸びず、下のほうに張ります。
ノシランの近縁
ノシランの品種には、葉に縞模様の入る「白筋熨斗蘭」や「黄筋熨斗蘭」があります。同じジャノヒゲ属では、少し草丈の小さな「大葉蛇の髭」は種実が丸い濃灰色、さらに小さな「蛇の髭」は種実が丸い群青色。一方、姿形がよく似ている「藪蘭」は属が異なり、種実も黒紫色です。
White Lilyturf
Ecology of White Lilyturf
White Lilyturf is an evergreen perennial plant belonging to the genus Ophiopogon of the family Asparagaceae. In Japan, it is distributed from Honshu west of the Kanto region to Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Nansei Islands. Outside of Japan, it is distributed on Jeju Island in South Korea, and grows naturally in forests near the coast. It is widely adapted to the climate and topography of western Japan, and is resistant to heat, cold, and shade, so it is used as an undergrowth in Japanese-style gardens.
Name of White Lilyturf
The origin of Japanese name “Noshi Ran” of White Lilyturf comes from the fact that the leaves resemble the decorations “noshi” attached to lucky charms, and the flowers resemble “ran” orchids in Japanese. Also, because the flower stalk is flat like “noshi” stretched in Japanese. The Latin genus name Ophiopogon means “snake’s mustache” and is a literal translation of the Japanese genus name. The origin of the species name jaburan is because it resembles “Yaburan” muscari in Japanese of the genus Liriope.
Morphology of White Lilyturf
White Lilyturf leaves grow from the ground and are thin and thick, with finely jagged margins at the tips. They have a bow-like flower stalk and a string-like peduncle, where the flowers bloom curving downward with 6 perianths. After flowering, they bear spheroidal seeds, which change from green to light blue to ultramarine. Roots don’t grow sideways, they grow downwards.
Close relatives of White Lilyturf
White Lilyturf varieties include “White stripes” and “Yellow stripes” with striped leaves. In the same genus Ophiopogon, the slightly smaller “planiscapus” has dark gray round seeds, and the even smaller “japonicus” has round seeds and is ultramarine. On the other hand, “Liriope muscari”, which has a similar shape, belongs to a different genus and has dark purple seeds.
