キキョウは秋の七草の一つで、歳時記でも初秋の季語ですが、花は６月半ばの梅雨どきくらいから咲き始める、夏の花でもあります。
Balloon flower is one of the seven autumn herbs, and although it is the season word for early autumn in Saijiki, the flowers are also summer flowers that begin to bloom around the rainy season in mid-June.
【仮名】キキョウ
【和名】桔梗
【英名】Balloon Flower
【学名】Platycodon grandiflorus
【誕生】08/ 02, 08/ 28, 09/ 01, 10/ 31
【開花】06, 07, 08, 09, 10月
【花色】White, Pink, Violet, Blue
キキョウ
キキョウはキキョウ科の多年生草本植物です。秋の七草の一つであり、歳時記でも初秋の季語。秋を象徴する植物ですが、花は６月半ばの梅雨どきくらいから咲き始めます。
キキョウを英語でBalloon flowerというのは、蕾の形が風船のようだから。色紙を折り上げて息を吹き入れ、ポンポンに膨らませた紙風船のようです。蕾は最初が緑色で、少しずつ色づきながら五つに裂け、星型の花を咲かせます。花の色は青紫から薄紅まで、咲き方も一重咲きから八重咲きまで、さまざま。
キキョウの花言葉は「永遠の愛」で、さらに紫の花は「気品」、白い花は「清楚」という意味もあるそうです。キキョウの根はサポニンを多く含み、漢方で生薬として痰や咳、のどの腫れといった呼吸器疾患に用いられます。ただし相当の苦味に注意。永遠の愛はずいぶん苦い（？）ようです。
キキョウの花の時期は長く、９月まで。キキョウは夏の花でありながら、秋の花でもあります。
Balloon Flower
Balloon flower is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Bellflower family. It is one of the seven autumn herbs, and is the season word for early autumn in Saijiki. It is a plant that symbolizes autumn, but the flowers begin to bloom around the rainy season in mid-June.
Balloon flower is called in English because the shape of the bud is like a balloon. It’s like a paper balloon inflated into a pompon by folding up colored paper and breathing in. The buds are green at first, and gradually color and split into five to make star-shaped flowers bloom. The colors of the flowers range from bluish purple to light red, and the way they bloom varies from single-flowered to double-flowered.
The flower language of balloon flower is “eternal love,” purple flowers mean “elegance,” and white flowers mean “neat.” The root of balloon flower is rich in saponin and is used as a crude drug in Chinese medicine for respiratory diseases such as sputum, cough and swelling of the throat. However, be careful of the considerable bitterness. Eternal love seems to be very bitter (?).
The flowering season of balloon flower is long, until September. Balloon flower is a summer flower, but it is also an autumn flower.
