キバナアマは寒さに強く、灰色の冬を黄色の花が照らします。花言葉は「希望」。月の光のように美しいので「雲南月光花」とも呼ばれます。
Yellow Flax is cold tolerant and its yellow flowers light up the gray winter. Flower language is “hope”. It is also called “Yunnan Moonlight Flower” because it is as beautiful as the moonlight.
【仮名】キバナアマ, ウンナンゲッコウカ
【和名】黄花亜麻, 雲南月光花
【英名】Yellow Flax
【学名】Reinwardtia indica
【誕生】06/ 01
【開花】01, 02, 03, 04, 11, 12月
【花色】Yellow
キバナアマ
キバナアマの来歴
キバナアマはアマ科の常緑低木。原産地はヒマラヤ山脈の周辺で、中国南西部の雲南省からインド北部のヒンドゥスターン、パキスタン北東部のカシミールにかけて自生しています。日本へは明治時代の初期に移入。寒さに強く、灰色の冬を黄色の花が照らします。花言葉は「希望」。
キバナアマの名前
キバナアマの名前の由来は花が亜麻に似ていながら黄色だから。亜麻の花は青色です。英名も「黄色の亜麻」という意味。ラテン語の属名レインワルティアはオランダの植物学者カスパー・ゲオルグ・カール・レインバルトへの献名です。種小名インディカは「インドの」という意味。
キバナアマの姿形
キバナアマの樹は叢生。長く伸びると枝垂れ、花が早春に咲くので、中国では「迎春柳」と呼ばれます。葉は先端が尖った楕円形で互生し、花は枝先に着いて花弁が５枚。中国では雲南省に自生し、花の色が月の光のように美しいので「雲南月光花」とも。花後は丸い蒴果を結びます。
キバナアマの逸話
キバナアマには逸話があり、「ピオリ」とも呼ばれます。ある国の王子が森で美しい少女に遭遇。王子は少女に恋をし、妃として宮殿に招きます。しかし、少女は衰弱して亡くなり、森に埋葬。やがて、そこに可憐な花が咲いたため、その花は少女の名前で呼ばれるようになりました。
Yellow Flax
History of Yellow Flax
Yellow Flax is an evergreen shrub of the Linaceae family. It is native to the Himalayas and grows wild from Yunnan Province in southwestern China to Hindustan in northern India and Kashmir in northeastern Pakistan. Introduced to Japan in the early Meiji period. It is cold tolerant and its yellow flowers light up the gray winter. Flower language is “hope”.
Name of Yellow Flax
The name Yellow Flax comes from the fact that the flowers resemble flax but are yellow. Flax flowers are blue. The Latin genus name Reinwardtia is a tribute to the Dutch botanist Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt. The species name Indica means “Indian”.
Appearance of Yellow Flax
The trees of Yellow Flax are crowded. When it grows long, it droops and flowers bloom in early spring, so it is called “the willow that welcomes spring” in China. The leaves are elliptical and alternate with pointed tips, and the flowers are at the tip of the branches and have 5 petals. In China, it grows naturally in Yunnan Province, and the color of the flower is as beautiful as the moonlight, so it is also called “Yunnan Moonlight Flower”. After flowering, it produces round capsules.
Anecdote of Yellow Flax
Yellow Flax has an anecdote and is also called “Pyoli”. A prince of a certain country encounters a beautiful girl in the forest. The prince falls in love with the girl and invites her to his palace as his wife. But she died as the girl weakened and she was buried in the forest. Before long, a pretty flower bloomed there, and the flower came to be called by the girl’s name.
