Iris - Iris

Japanese: ショウブ - しょうぶ

A perennial plant of the Araceae family (APG classification: Acoraceae). It has a fragrant fragrance throughout. The rhizome is long and horizontal, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, has nodes, and branches well. The leaves grow in two rows on the rhizome, clasping each other at the base, linear, 50-80 cm long, have a midvein, and are thin and pointed at the tip. From May to July, it produces flat, leafy flower stalks with cylindrical inflorescences that are slightly oblique. The flower stalks are connected to bracts of the same shape as the leaves. The flowers are bisexual, with six tepals, six stamens, and one pistil. They grow in colonies in muddy areas near water, and are native to Asia and North America. They have also become widely naturalized in the warm and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.

[Hitoshi Murata December 14, 2021]

The genus Acorus is separated into the Acoraceae family in the APG classification. The Acoraceae family consists of one genus and two species, and is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere except in arid areas.

[Editorial Department, December 14, 2021]

Folklore

Folklore about irises is centered on the May Festival, as the Boys' Day on May 5th is also known as the Shobu Festival. Because of its unique fragrance, irises are believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits, and people celebrate by cutting them into an arrow feather shape and inserting them into their hair, tying them around their heads like headbands, or wearing them around their waists to prevent illness. It is also said that drinking iris wine, made by chopping up iris roots and soaking in sake, or bathing in a bath with irises and mugwort, will keep you healthy. In some parts of Kagoshima Prefecture, it is said that if you sleep with irises under your futon, fleas will bend over and go to the hot springs for a cure, and you will no longer have fleas. It is also common nationwide to tie irises and mugwort (or kaya) together and insert them into the eaves on the May Festival, but it is said that the roof is covered with irises, and it is considered an event to stay in seclusion before rice planting. In some parts of Oita Prefecture, irises hung on rooftops in May are likened to Tanabata, and if the cut ends face downwards, it is said that the harvest will be good that year. In the Tohoku, Kanto, and Chubu regions, there is an event called Shobu-uchi, or Shobu-tataki, where children hit each other with bunches of irises.

Old tales include one about a man chased by a mountain witch who takes refuge in a place where irises grow and is saved, and another about a woman who is pregnant with a snake's child and has an abortion by bathing in an iris bath, known as the "snake bride." These stories also take the form of explaining the relationship between the May festival and irises.

[Shoji Inoguchi December 14, 2021]

literature

In literary works, it appears as ayamegusa or ayame. There are 12 examples in the Manyoshu, and the character "shobu" is used quite frequently. There are poems about the custom of celebrating longevity and health by wearing kusudama (medicinal balls) and kazura (wigs) on May 5th, and this is also reflected in the Kokinshu poem "Hototogisu sings, Satsuki no ayamegusa (Japanese iris), I am in love, even though I do not know about ayame" (Love 1, unknown author). The custom of roofing the eaves with shobu is also often written about in waka poetry, and there is an example in the Shuishu: "Until yesterday, I thought of the ayame grass as something other than my own, but today I see it as the wife of my lodging" (Summer, Onakatomi Yoshinobu). People competed to see who could see who could see the longest root, and often held poetry contests based on the results. The "Dairi Neawase" in 1051 (Eisho 6) is particularly famous, and is recorded in the "Neawase" chapter of the "Eiga Monogatari," and the "Gon Chunagon who does not cross Osaka" chapter of the "Tsutsumi Chunagon Monogatari" also takes place at Neawase. A rare example of the Japanese iris is found in Saigyo's "Sankashū," which reads, "The irises that decorate the inn where the cherry blossoms are falling must be called flowers." The seasonal theme of haiku is summer.

[Teruhiko Komachiya December 14, 2021]

[Reference] | Iris bath

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

サトイモ科（APG分類：ショウブ科）の多年草。全体に芳香がある。根茎は長く横にはい、径1～1.5センチメートル、節があり、よく分枝する。葉は根茎上に2列につき、基部で互いに抱き合い、線形で長さ50～80センチメートル、中央脈があり、先端は細くとがる。5～7月、扁平(へんぺい)で葉状の花茎を出し、円柱状の花序をやや斜めにつける。花茎には葉と同形の包葉が接続する。花は両性で花被片(かひへん)6枚、雄しべ6本、雌しべ1本。水辺の泥地に群生し、アジア、北アメリカに自生する。また、北半球の暖帯から温帯に広く帰化している。

［邑田　仁　2021年12月14日］

　ショウブ属はAPG分類ではショウブ科Acoraceaeとして独立した。ショウブ科には1属2種があり、乾燥地を除く北半球に広く分布する。

［編集部　2021年12月14日］

民俗

5月5日の端午の節供を別名菖蒲(しょうぶ)の節供というように、ショウブの民俗は五月節供に集中している。独特の香気からショウブには邪気を払う効果があると考えられ、病気にならないよう矢羽形に切って髪に挿したり、鉢巻のように頭に結んだり、腰に巻いたりして祝う。またショウブの根を刻んで酒に漬けた菖蒲酒（あやめ酒）を飲んだり、ショウブとヨモギを入れた風呂(ふろ)に入ると健康を保てるなどともいう。鹿児島県の一部では、ショウブをふとんの下に敷いて寝るとノミが腰を折って湯治に行くので、以後はノミがいなくなるなどという。五月節供にショウブとヨモギ（またはカヤ）を束ねて軒に挿すことも全国的であるが、ショウブで屋根を葺(ふ)くといい、田植に先だって忌み籠(ごも)りをする行事だと考えられている。大分県の一部では、5月に屋根にあげたショウブを七夕(たなばた)に見立て、切り口が下向きならばその年は作柄がよいという。東北、関東、中部地方では、菖蒲打ち、菖蒲たたきといって、子供たちがショウブの束で打ち合う行事がある。

　昔話では、山姥(やまうば)に追われた人がショウブの生えている所に逃げ込んで助かった話や、蛇の子を宿した女性が菖蒲湯につかって堕胎(おろ)したなどという「蛇婿入り」の話もあり、やはり五月節供とショウブとの関係を説明するような形をとっている。

［井之口章次　2021年12月14日］

文学

文学作品にはアヤメグサ、アヤメとしてみえる。『万葉集』には12例、「菖蒲」の用字もかなり多い。5月5日に薬玉(くすだま)や鬘(かずら)にして健康長寿を祝う風俗が詠まれており、『古今集』の「ほととぎす鳴くや五月(さつき)のあやめ草あやめも知らぬ恋もするかな」（恋1・読人しらず）にも踏まえられている。菖蒲を軒に葺く習慣もよく和歌に詠まれ、『拾遺(しゅうい)集』に「昨日までよそに思ひしあやめ草今日我が宿のつまと見るかな」（夏・大中臣能宣(おおなかとみのよしのぶ)）の例がある。その根の長さを競い合い、それにちなんで歌合(うたあわせ)をする根合(ねあわせ)もしばしば催され、1051年（永承6）の「内裏(だいり)根合」はとくに有名で、『栄花(えいが)物語』「根合」に伝えられており、『堤中納言(つつみちゅうなごん)物語』の「逢坂(おうさか)越えぬ権(ごん)中納言」も根合が舞台となっている。西行(さいぎょう)の『山家(さんか)集』に「桜散る宿を飾れる菖蒲(あやめ)をば花さうぶとやいふべかるらむ」とあるのが、ショウブのまれな例であろう。俳諧(はいかい)の季題は夏。

［小町谷照彦　2021年12月14日］

[参照項目] | 菖蒲湯

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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