Tricyrtis formosana, ‘Taiwan-Hototogisu’

　The autumn flowers at Tenryū-ji are now at their best. Whilst the Sōgen-chi Garden, with its beautiful borrowed scenery, and the ‘Cloud Dragon’ painting in the Dharma Hall are, of course, highlights, this is also a place where one can fully enjoy the flowers of each season.

　The Tricyrtis formosana (Taiwan-Hototogisu  in Japanese) has begun to bloom by the water’s edge. As its Japanese name suggests, it grows wild in great numbers in Taiwan; however, in Japan it is an endangered species found only on Iriomote Island and in very small parts of the main island of Okinawa, with a population said to number fewer than 1,000 individuals. Nevertheless, due to its hardiness, it is popular as an ornamental plant, and it appears that many specimens have hybridised with the native Japanese species Tricyrtis hirta(Hototogisu in Japanese).

　The Japanese name ‘Hototogisu’ derives from the fact that the spotted pattern on the petals resembles the black horizontal stripes found on the breast and belly of the cuckoo bird called ‘Hototogisu’ in Japan. Whilst the native Japanese Tricyrtis hirta produces a single flower at the base of each leaf (in the leaf axil), the Taiwanese Tricyrtis formosana can be distinguished by the fact that, rather than in the leaf axils, the stem branches at the tip and bears several flowers there.