Hypericum - Otogirisou

Japanese: オトギリソウ - おとぎりそう

A perennial plant of the family Hypericaceae (APG classification: Hypericaceae). It is 30-60 cm tall, with lanceolate leaves that are rounded at the base and clasp a rounded stem. Black spots on the leaf surface are also distributed around the edge. In August, yellow flowers about 2 cm in diameter are produced on the top of the stem or on the lower branches. Many stamens are gathered in three bundles, and the style is three-lobed. The capsule is oblong-oval, 5-10 mm in size. It commonly grows in mountainous areas throughout Japan, and is distributed in Karafuto (Sakhalin), the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and China. Tomoe-sou, a member of the same genus, is larger overall, has five bundles of stamens, and a five-lobed style. Koke-Hypericum perforatum and Sawa-Hypericum perforatum have three bundles of stamens and a three-lobed style. The leaves of the moss hypericum are less than 1 cm long and the flowers are 5-7 mm in diameter. The leaves of the sawah hypericum are 2-4 cm long and the flowers are about 1 cm in diameter.

In a broad sense, the Hypericum genus includes the Hypericum genus, which has a small number of stamens and does not form a cluster, but in the narrow sense, it is limited to plants that have many stamens in clusters.They are distributed from the subtropics to temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere and include about 500 species, with about 40 species growing wild in Japan.

[Akiko Sugiyama July 21, 2020]

Folklore

In Europe, from the Middle Ages to the present, there has been a custom of collecting medicinal herbs on St. John's Day, and the Midsummer Festival is one of the important annual events. In England, the herb Hypericum perforatum, which is used as a medicinal herb, is called St. John's-wort. St. John's Day falls on June 24th, around the summer solstice, when the sun is at its strongest and when Hypericum perforatum blooms its yellow flowers. Herbs collected on the night before this day were considered to be particularly effective as medicinal herbs for the Midsummer Festival, and were used to drive away demons that bring illness.

There is also a custom of making bonfires on this day to pray for a good harvest, and lovers also enjoyed this festival. Girls believed that if they slept with this grass under their pillow on the night before the Midsummer Festival, they would dream of their future husbands, and if the twigs hung on the wall did not wilt by morning, it was said that their marriage partner would be auspicious. There is also a custom of hanging this grass on the doorsteps and windows of houses to avoid the misfortunes of demons that run around on the night before the Midsummer Festival, and to ward off lightning.

[Akiko Sugiyama July 21, 2020]

According to Terashima Ryoan's Wakan Sansai Zue (1713), the ominous name Otogirisou (younger than younger brother) was given to this plant during the reign of Emperor Kazan (984-986). When his brother let it slip, Haruyori, a master falconer, cut off the hawk's wounds after he had secretly kept a medicinal herb for it. It has been known as a medicine since ancient times, and is also known as Aogusuri (green medicine). Fujiwara Teika wrote, "The green medicine still withers in the autumn fields. The hawk I raise must have gentle feathers." Kaibara Ekiken also classified it as a weed in Yamato Honzo (1709), writing that it can be used to stop bleeding from cuts and to cure illnesses in hawks and dogs. Even today, the whole plant is dried in the shade and brewed into a decoction to be used as a folk remedy for colds and coughs, and is also soaked in shochu to make a medicinal liquor.

[Hiroshi Yuasa July 21, 2020]

Major species of the Hypericum genus [pictures of specimens]
©Kanzo Otawa ">

Major species of the Hypericum genus [pictures of specimens]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

オトギリソウ科（APG分類：オトギリソウ科）の多年草。高さ30～60センチメートル、葉は披針(ひしん)形で先は円く、基部で丸い茎を抱き、葉の表面にある黒点は縁辺にも並ぶ。8月ごろ、径2センチメートルほどの黄色花を茎頂や下方の分枝上につける。多数の雄しべが3個の束に集まり、花柱は3裂する。蒴果(さくか)は長楕円(ちょうだえん)状卵形で、5～10ミリメートル。日本全土の山地に普通に生え、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）、朝鮮半島、台湾、中国に分布する。同属のトモエソウは全体が大きく、雄しべの束は5個、花柱は5裂。コケオトギリ、サワオトギリは雄しべの束は3個、花柱は3裂。コケオトギリは葉は長さ1センチメートル以下、花は径5～7ミリメートル。サワオトギリは葉は長さ2～4センチメートル、花は径約1センチメートル。

　オトギリソウ属は、広義には雄しべの数が少なく、束状にならないヒメオトギリ属も含まれるが、狭義には多数の雄しべを束生するものに限り、北半球の亜熱帯から温帯に分布し、500種ほどあり、日本には40種ほど自生している。

［杉山明子　2020年7月21日］

民俗

ヨーロッパでは中世から最近まで聖ヨハネの祝日に薬草を集める風習があり、重要な年中行事の一つとして中夏節の祭りという。イギリスでは薬草として用いられるセイヨウオトギリソウを「聖ヨハネの草」St. John's-wortとよんでいる。6月24日の聖ヨハネの祝日は夏至のころで、太陽がもっとも強い時期であり、オトギリソウが黄色の花をつけるころでもある。この日の前夜に集めたものがとくに中夏節の薬草として効力が強いとされ、病気をもたらす悪魔を追い払う草としていた。

　また豊作を祈るたき火をこの日に行う風習があり、恋人たちもこの祭りを楽しんだ。中夏節前夜にこの草を枕(まくら)の下に敷いて眠ると娘たちは未来の夫の夢をみると信じ、壁にかけた小枝が朝までしおれなければ結婚相手は吉と占った。また中夏節前夜に騒ぎ回る悪魔たちの災いから逃れたり、落雷よけのために家の戸口や窓にこの草をつるす風習もある。

［杉山明子　2020年7月21日］

　弟切草という物騒な名は、寺島良安(りょうあん)の『和漢三才図会(わかんさんさいずえ)』（1713）によれば、花山(かざん)天皇（在位984～986）の代に、鷹(たか)使いの名匠晴頼(はるより)が鷹の傷を治すための薬草を秘密にしていたところ、それを弟が漏らしたために切り捨てたことから名づけられたと伝える。古くから薬として知られ、青薬(あおぐすり)の別名もあり、藤原定家は「秋の野にまだ枯残る青薬　飼ふてふ鷹やさし羽なるらむ」と詠む。また貝原益軒は『大和本草(やまとほんぞう)』（1709）で、雑草の項に分類し、切り傷の止血のほか、鷹と犬の病を治すと記す。現在でも陰干しにした全草を煎(せん)じてかぜや咳(せき)止めの民間薬に使い、焼酎(しょうちゅう)につけて薬酒をつくる。

［湯浅浩史　2020年7月21日］

オトギリソウ属のおもな種類〔標本画〕

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