Wig - wig

Japanese: カツラ - かつら

A deciduous tall tree of the family Cercidiphyllum (APG classification: Cercidiphyllum). It can grow to over 25 meters tall and has many short branches. The leaves are opposite, broadly ovate with long stalks, rounded at the tip, heart-shaped at the base, with blunt sawtooth edges, and powdery white undersides. They have 5-7 palmate veins. Dioecious. They flower around May. They have no perianth, and the male flowers have many stamens and crimson anthers. The female flowers have 3-5 pistils and pale pink stigmas. The fruits are cylindrical and curved. They grow in forests along valleys in deep mountains throughout Japan, and a variety is distributed in China. The kanji name katsura is a Chinese name for a plant of the family Oleaceae. A closely related species, broad-leaved katsura, has large leaves and the bark does not have any fissures like the parent species.

[Kyoshio Furusawa May 19, 2020]

Cultural history

It is a mistake to use the kanji character "Katsura" for katsura, which in Chinese means osmanthus. This confusion dates back to the Heian period, when the Wamyōshō states that the Japanese name for katsura is Mekatsura. Before osmanthus, which has fragrant flowers, was introduced to Japan, knowledge of it was transmitted from China, and katsura wood ash was used as an ingredient in incense powder, so the character katsura was mistakenly used to refer to the fragrant tree. The Chinese name for katsura is Renshansu, or Uchinsu, or Sanpaikuo.

[Hiroshi Yuasa May 19, 2020]

[Reference item] | Broadleaf Katsura

Wig
A deciduous tree that grows to a height of over 25m. It has many short branches, and one stump can have several trunks. ©Seishohmaru ">

Wig

Katsura leaves
It is broadly ovate with a heart-shaped base. It has blunt sawtooth edges and 5-7 palmate veins. ©Seishohmaru ">

Katsura leaves

Katsura (tree shape)
©Junzo Fujishima ">

Katsura (tree shape)

Katsura leaf fossil
Cenozoic Quaternary, Middle Pleistocene Leaf length: about 7 cm Produced in Nasu-Shiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture © Photo courtesy of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (GSJ F7519)

Katsura leaf fossil

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

カツラ科（APG分類：カツラ科）の落葉高木。高さ25メートル以上にもなり、短枝が多い。葉は対生し、広卵形で長い柄があり、先は円く、基部は心臓形、縁(へり)に鈍い鋸歯(きょし)があり、裏面は粉白色を帯びる。5～7条の掌状脈がある。雌雄異株。花期は5月ごろ。花被(かひ)はなく、雄花は多数の雄しべがあり、葯(やく)は紅(くれない)色。雌花は3～5本の雌しべがあり、柱頭は淡紅色。果実は円柱形で湾曲する。日本全土の深山の谷沿いの林中に生え、中国には変種が分布する。漢字名の桂は、中国ではモクセイ科の植物のことである。近縁種ヒロハカツラは葉が大形で、樹皮には母種のような裂け目がない。

［古澤潔夫　2020年5月19日］

文化史

カツラに漢字の「桂」をあてるのは誤りで、桂は中国ではモクセイのことをさす。この混同は平安時代にまでさかのぼり、『和名抄(わみょうしょう)』は桂（モクセイ）の和名を女加豆良(めかつら)とする。花に芳香のあるモクセイが日本に渡来する以前に、中国からその知識だけが先行して伝わり、またカツラの木灰を抹香の材料に使ったことから、香りのある木として誤って桂の字をあてたのであろう。カツラの中国名は連香樹(レンシャンスウ)、あるいは五君樹(ウチンスウ)、または山白果(サンパイクオ)である。

［湯浅浩史　2020年5月19日］

[参照項目] | ヒロハカツラ

カツラ

カツラの葉

カツラ〔樹形〕

カツラの葉の化石

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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