Yuzuriha - Yuzuriha

Japanese: ユズリハ - ゆずりは

An evergreen tall tree of the family Pycnonotaceae (APG classification: Pycnonotaceae). The trunk is upright and branches abundantly at the top, reaching a height of 10 meters. The leaves are clustered at the ends of the branches, alternate, oblong, 15-23 cm long, entire, with a short, pointed tip, leathery and shiny, and whitish-green on the underside. The petiole is long and green with a pale pink tinge. Dioecious. In May and June, racemes are produced in the axils near the ends of the branches, and small yellow-green flowers bloom. There are no perianth pieces, and the male flowers have 6-10 stamens radiating out, with some having a vestigial pistil in the center. The female flowers consist of a single pistil, and some have several vestigial stamens irregularly arranged at the base. The drupe is elliptical, about 1 cm long, and bluish-black in color. It grows in mountain forests and is distributed from the Chubu region west of Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa, the Korean Peninsula, and central and southern China. It was named after the clear change of leaves from old to new in early summer. It is widely planted as a garden tree.

The variant Ezo Yuzuriha (Hina Yuzuriha) grows from Hokkaido to the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, and is a shrub about 2 meters tall. The leaves are slightly smaller than those of the parent species. The closely related species Hime Yuzuriha D. teijsmannii Zolling. ex Kurz. reaches a height of about 10 meters. The leaves are smaller than those of Yuzuriha, the undersides are not as white as those of Yuzuriha, and the drupes are smaller. Both female and male flowers have thin, claw-shaped tepals. It grows in coastal forests, and is distributed from Honshu west of the Chubu region to Kyushu.

[Kyoshio Furusawa May 19, 2020]

Cultural history

It is said that the Yuzuriha plant was named Yuzuriha because the old leaves fall off after the new leaves appear in the spring, and the change of the old leaves is noticeable. It is also said that the name Yuzuruha came from the fact that the main veins of the leaves are thick and resemble the string of a bow. It is used as a decoration for the New Year and other celebrations, with the meaning of succession from father to son.

Its name appears in two poems in the Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves). In the metaphorical poem in Volume 14, "What is it that makes me think that the wind does not blow when the leaves of Mt. Ajikuma are borne?", the Yuzureha in question is taken to be an analogy for a young girl. The Yuzureha, whose only leaf stalks are red, is probably seen as an immature plant. In Kyushu and other areas, the Yuzureha plant is called Tsurunoha. The front of the Yuzureha leaf is blue, but the back is whitish, and the leaf stalk is red. Perhaps this was linked to the red-headed Japanese crane. The use of yuzu-riba as a lucky charm has been recorded since the Kamakura period, when Fujiwara Tomoe wrote in his poem "This is the sign of welcoming spring, and the mountain people return home waving their yuzu-riba" (Fubokushu). The earliest description of its use during New Year's was in the Ainousho (1446). The Pillow Book states that the leaves were used to mulch food and the wood was used as a teething aid.

[Hiroshi Yuasa May 19, 2020]

Yuzureha
The leaves grow in clusters at the ends of the branches, are oblong and 15-23cm long. In early summer, the old leaves are replaced by new leaves all at once. ©Seishohmaru ">

Yuzureha

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ユズリハ科（APG分類：ユズリハ科）の常緑高木。幹は直立性で上部は多く分枝し、高さ10メートルに達する。葉は枝先に集まって互生し、長楕円(ちょうだえん)形で長さ15～23センチメートル、全縁で先は短くとがり、革質で光沢があり、裏面は白緑色を帯びる。葉柄は長く、淡紅色を帯びた緑色。雌雄異株。5～6月、枝先近くの葉腋(ようえき)に総状花序をつくり、小さな黄緑色花を開く。花被片(かひへん)はなく、雄花は6～10本の雄しべを放射状に出し、中央に退化雌しべがあるものもある。雌花は1本の雌しべからなり、その基部に不規則に数本の退化雄しべをつけるものもある。核果は楕円形で長さ約1センチメートル、青黒色を帯びる。山地の林中に生え、中部地方以西の本州から四国、九州、沖縄、および朝鮮半島、中国中南部に分布する。名は、初夏、旧葉と新葉がまとまって交代するのがとくに明瞭(めいりょう)なためついた。広く庭園樹として植栽される。

　変種エゾユズリハ（ヒナユズリハ）は北海道から本州の日本海側に生え、低木で高さ約2メートル。葉は母種より、やや小さい。近縁種ヒメユズリハD. teijsmannii Zolling. ex Kurz.は高さ約10メートルに達する。葉はユズリハより小さく、裏面はユズリハほど白色を帯びず、核果もより小さい。雌、雄花ともに、細い爪(つめ)状の花被片がある。海岸樹林中に生え、中部地方以西の本州から九州に分布する。

［古澤潔夫　2020年5月19日］

文化史

ユズリハは、春若葉が生じてから古葉が落ち、新旧の葉の交代が目だつことから譲葉(ゆずりは)とよばれたといい、また葉の主脈が太く弓の弦(つる)に似ていることから弓弦葉(ゆづるは)の名が出たともいう。父子相譲して継承する意味をもたせ、新年や祝事の飾り物として用いられる。

　認識は古く『万葉集』の2首に名がみえる。巻14の譬喩(ひゆ)歌で「何(あ)ど思(も)へか阿自久麻山(あじくまやま)のゆづる葉の含(ふふ)まる時に風吹かずかも」と詠まれているが、そのユズリハは少女のたとえとされる。葉柄だけが赤く色づくユズリハを、成熟していないと見立てたのであろう。ユズリハは九州などではツルノハとよばれる。ユズリハの葉の表は青いが、裏は白っぽく、また葉柄は赤い。これを頭の赤いタンチョウヅルと結び付けたのであろうか。ユズリハが縁起物にされるのは鎌倉時代から記録に残り、藤原知家(ともいえ)は「これぞこの春を迎ふるしるしとてゆずるはかざし帰る山人」（『夫木集(ふぼくしゅう)』）と歌った。はっきり正月に用いるとした記述は『壒嚢鈔(あいのうしょう)』（1446）が古い。『枕草子(まくらのそうし)』には、葉を食物敷き、木を歯固めに使ったことが載る。

［湯浅浩史　2020年5月19日］

ユズリハ

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