Swallow Omoto - Swallow Omoto

Japanese: ツバメオモト - つばめおもと

A perennial plant of the lily family (APG classification: Liliaceae). Numerous yellowish-white roots grow from a short rhizome that grows slightly diagonally upwards. The leaves are obovate-oblong, gather and overlap at the top of the rhizome, are 15-30 cm long, somewhat fleshy and thick, and have soft hairs on the edges. The flowering season is May-June, and the flower stalk initially grows 10-30 cm long, and at the fruiting season it grows to about 50 cm. The flowers are white, and 4-10 flowers grow in a corymb-like raceme. The fruit is a spherical berry about 1 cm in diameter, initially lapis lazuli, and turns black when ripe. It grows in the subalpine coniferous forests of Honshu from Hokkaido to Nara Prefecture north, and is widely distributed from the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin to China and the Himalayas.

[Akira Kono, December 13, 2018]

Swallowtail
The leaves are oblong and slightly fleshy. From May to June, 4 to 10 white flowers bloom at the end of the flower stalk. ©Shogakukan Photo by Fujio Aoyama ">

Swallowtail

Fruit of the swallowtail tree
The spherical berries are about 1 cm in diameter. They are lapis lazuli at first, but turn black when ripe. ©Shogakukan Photo by Fujio Aoyama ">

Fruit of the swallowtail tree

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ユリ科（APG分類：ユリ科）の多年草。短いわずかに斜め上に伸びる根茎から黄白色の根を多数出す。葉は倒卵状長楕円(ちょうだえん)形で、地下茎の上部に集まり重なり合ってつき、長さ15～30センチメートル、やや肉質で厚く、縁(へり)に軟毛がある。花期は5～6月で、花茎は初め10～30センチメートル、果期には50センチメートル前後に達する。花は白色、散房状総状花序に4～10個つく。果実は球形の液果で、径約1センチメートル、初め瑠璃(るり)色で熟すると黒色となる。北海道から奈良県以北の本州の亜高山針葉樹林内に生え、千島、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）から中国、ヒマラヤにかけて広く分布する。

［河野昭一　2018年12月13日］

ツバメオモト
葉は倒卵状長楕円形でやや肉質。5～6月、花茎の先に白色花を4～10個つける©Shogakukan　撮影／青山富士夫">

ツバメオモト

ツバメオモトの果実

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