Jewels - Jewels

Japanese: ジュズダマ - じゅずだま

A perennial plant of the grass family (APG classification: Poaceae). The culm grows in a clump and is about 1 meter tall. The leaves are 5 cm wide and 50 cm long. Monoecious. Racemes grow from short branches at the top of the culm from July to October. The sheath is ovoid, about 1 cm long, and shiny grayish white. The female spikelets are enclosed in the tough sheath and cannot be seen from the outside. The male inflorescence is a raceme that emerges from the tip of the sheath. Both spikelets have two florets. Native to Indochina and Indonesia, it is cultivated and has become naturalized in some places. The sheath contains the caryopsis and has a core in the center through which the male inflorescence can be threaded, making it convenient to string them together, so they are used for prayer beads and necklaces. A variety of Job's tears has dark brown sheaths that are hard enough to crack with a fingernail, and the caryopsis is used as a health food and herbal medicine.

[Jianchang Xu August 20, 2019]

Cultural history

It has been used since prehistoric times, and Yanagita Kunio (1952) discussed its etymology and origin in "Hito to Zuzudama" (People and Zuzudama). Yanagita speculated that the name Juzdama was not based on Buddhist prayer beads, but rather on the archaic words tsusu and tsushitama, which are related to beads and grains, and then zuzudama, which is still used in modern dialects, and finally Juzdama. It is listed as a drug in the Engishiki (927). The center of variation is thought to be the southern part of Yunnan Province in China to northern India. In Africa, there is an instrument that is made by hanging a number of strings around the outside of a gourd and making a sound. The English name is Job's-tears.

[Hiroshi Yuasa August 20, 2019]

Jewels
The culm grows to a height of about 1m, and the leaves are lanceolate and linear. From July to October, racemes grow from short branches at the top of the culm. ©Shogakukan ">

Jewels

Job's tears inflorescence
The female spikelet is enclosed in an ovoid globular sheath and cannot be seen from the outside. The male inflorescence emerges from the tip of the sheath and forms a raceme. The sheath changes color from green to black to gray as the caryopsis inside ripens. ©Seishohmaru ">

Job's tears inflorescence

Jewels of the Pearl
As the caryopsis inside ripens, it changes color from green to black to gray. It is used to make prayer beads and necklaces. ©Seishohmaru ">

Jewels of the Pearl

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

イネ科（APG分類：イネ科）の多年草。稈(かん)は株立ちし、高さ約1メートル。葉は幅5センチメートル、長さ50センチメートル。雌雄同株。7～10月、稈の上方の短い分枝から総状花序をつける。包鞘(ほうしょう)は卵球形で長さ約1センチメートル、灰白色で光沢がある。雌小穂はこの堅い包鞘に包まれ、外からは見えない。雄花序は総状で包鞘の先端から出る。両小穂ともに2個の小花がある。インドシナ半島、インドネシア原産で、栽培され、野生化している所もある。包鞘は穎果(えいか)を内蔵するほか、中央に雄花序を通す芯(しん)があり、紐(ひも)を通して連ねるのに便利であるため、数珠(じゅず)や首飾りに利用する。包鞘が濃褐色で、爪(つめ)で割れる堅さのものが変種のハトムギで、穎果は健康食品や漢方薬とする。

［許　建　昌　2019年8月20日］

文化史

有史以前から利用され、柳田国男(やなぎたくにお)は『人とズズダマ』（1952）で、その語源と由来を論じた。柳田は、ジュズダマの名は仏教の数珠に基づくのではなく、珠(たま)や粒と関連する古語のツスやツシタマから、現代も方言に残るズズダマを経て、ジュズダマになったと推察した。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』（927）には薬物として載る。中国雲南省の南部からインド北部にかけてが変異の中心とみられる。アフリカではヒョウタンの外側に、多数紐(ひも)で通して、ぶら下げ、音をたてる楽器がある。英名はヨブの涙Job's-tearsという。

［湯浅浩史　2019年8月20日］

ジュズダマ

ジュズダマの花序

ジュズダマの包鞘

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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