Minesuou - Minesuou

An evergreen shrub of the Ericaceae family (APG classification: Ericaceae). The stems are creeping, branched, and ascend obliquely, about 10 cm tall. The leaves are densely arranged opposite each other, linear-oblong, about 1 cm long, thick, with outward-curling edges and densely covered with fine white hairs on the underside. In June and July, 2 to 6 pale pink or white flowers bloom upward at the ends of the branches. The corolla is broad bell-shaped, 5 mm long, and has 5 lobes at the tip. There are 5 stamens and purple anthers. The fruit is a small, egg-shaped capsule that stands upright. There is only one species in this genus, and it grows in a mat-like pattern on wind-swept grasslands in the alpine zone, and is widely distributed in the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere, including Honshu north of the Chubu region, Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Eastern Siberia, North America, and Europe. The name comes from the fact that it grows on mountain peaks and its leaves resemble those of suou, a dialect word for yew (a different species from suou, which is in the legume family).

[Yoshio Kobayashi May 21, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ツツジ科（APG分類：ツツジ科）の常緑小低木。茎は地をはい、よく分枝して斜上し、高さ約10センチメートル。葉は対生して密につき、線状長楕円(ちょうだえん)形で長さ約1センチメートル、質は厚く、縁(へり)は外側に巻き、裏面に細かい白毛を密生する。6～7月、枝先に淡紅色または白色花を2～6個上向きに開く。花冠は広鐘形で長さ5ミリメートル、先端は5裂する。雄しべは5本で葯(やく)は紫色。果実は卵形の小さな蒴果(さくか)で直立する。1属1種で、高山帯の風衝草原にマット状に広がって生え、中部地方以北の本州、北海道、および千島、樺太(からふと)（サハリン）、東シベリア、北アメリカ、ヨーロッパなど、北半球の北部に広く分布する。名は、山の峰に生え、葉がイチイの一方言であるスオウ（マメ科のスオウとは別種）に似ることによる。

［小林義雄　2021年5月21日］

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