Higotai - Higotai

A perennial plant of the Asteraceae family. The stem is thick and sinewy, about 1 meter tall, densely hairy, and white. The leaves are deeply pinnately lobed, with notches and thorns on the lobes, and resemble thistle leaves. The upper surface of the leaves is green and slightly covered with thin spider-like hairs, but the underside is densely covered with white fluffy hairs. From August to October, numerous flower heads gather at the top of the stem or at the end of the branches to produce spherical flowers about 5 cm in diameter. The flower head consists of a single tubular flower, and the corolla is deep pale blue with five deep lobes at the tip and curled back. There are 16 to 18 involucres, arranged in a tilia shape, with pointed awn-like tips. The achene is densely hairy. The pappus is a crown-like shape formed by merging scale-like hairs from the middle and lower parts. It grows in sunny grasslands and is distributed in the Chubu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Korean peninsula, but is extremely rare. Its closely related species, blue thistle E. ritro L. and E. sphaerocephalus L., native to Europe, are cultivated for cut flowers.

[Hiroyuki Koyama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

キク科の多年草。茎は太くて筋張り、高さ約1メートル、毛を密生し、白色である。葉は羽状に深く裂け、裂片に欠刻と刺(とげ)があり、アザミの葉に似る。葉の表面は緑色で薄いくもの巣状の毛を生じる程度であるが、裏面は白色の綿毛を密生する。8～10月、茎頂または枝先に、多数の頭花が集まって径約5センチメートルの球状の花をつける。頭花は1個の管状花からなり、花冠は濃い淡青色で、先は深く5裂し、裂片は反り返る。総包は16～18枚、覆瓦(ふくが)状に並び、先は芒(のぎ)状にとがる。痩果(そうか)は毛を密生する。冠毛は鱗片(りんぺん)状の毛が中部以下で合生し、冠状になる。日当りのよい草原に生え、中部地方、中国地方、四国、九州、および朝鮮半島に分布するが、きわめてまれである。ヨーロッパ原産の近縁種ルリタマアザミE. ritro L.やE. sphaerocephalus L.は切り花用に栽培される。

［小山博滋］

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