Jurassic! Ferns, ferns, ferns …

Don’t you think it’s something of human nature boasting “I have special something”? That exclusive can be “Japanese endemic species” for Japanese forest, and so I myself have said it many times in this blog. Though, we Japanese belong to only one species, Homo Sapience, which spreads everywhere on the Planet Earth. It’s natural to expect we find another cosmopolitan species in the forest of Japanese archipelago, isn’t it? Recently, I’ve learned there is one such kind. Pteriodophytes, aka ferns.

Petris Cretica L. with mushrooms.
 This fern is really cosmopolitan.
 We can find it in Africa, Europe, Asia, and America.

According to Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Japan has roughly 7000 kinds of flora where about 2900 (40%) of them are endemic. It is a bit of pride of us on small islands. “Well, our nation is tiny compared with the continental neighbors, but we have such a rich biodiversity of our own!” Hmmm … I simply thought this applies for every plant of our land, ferns and moss included. In addition, intricate hues of greens in ferns or moss match perfectly well with Zen and tea ceremony both of which are the treasure of our culture. Look at the beauty of moss garden in Zen temples! So, my unassuming brain regarded many ferns we meet in our forest are uniquely Japanese, oh-so-Japanese plants. I was naïvely wrong.

Beautiful Polystichum polyblepharum,
 or Inode in Japanese,
 found in Miho CitizenForest 三保市民の森.
 It’s very common fern in Yokohama’s Citizen Forests.

The beloved cedar forest with ferns
 in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森.

According to Atsushi Ebihara of National Museum of Nature and Science of Japan, when analyzing their DNA, 31.7% of seed plants are endemic in Japanese natural environment. In contrast, only 18%, or 112 species, of ferns are endemic and no family of Pteriodophytes in Japan belongs to endemic genus. (i.e. Japan has roughly 700-800 species of ferns in total.) Ebihara said it might be due to insufficient coverage of field studies about the genus. But the same families of Pteriodophytes and Bryophyte (aka moss) often spread all over the planet, regardless of Pacific, Atlantic, or Indian Ocean. Therefore, it is not surprising for Japan having smaller uniqueness of ferns and moss, he concluded. Wow. Is that so? Moreover, many Japanese endemic ferns are found in remote islands such as Okinawa 沖縄, Ogasawara Islands 小笠原群島 or Yakushima 屋久島. i.e. Absolute majority of the ferns and moss we find in Kanagawa Prefecture are international kinds that have relatives who could live in the opposite side of the planet. That’s … amazing. What a globalized world of ferns! 

I think it’s Thelypteris torresiana var. clavata,
 or Himewarabe in Japanese.
 According to Wikipedia, we can find it in
 East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and North America.
 A globe trotter, it is.

Thelypteris decursive-pinnata (van Hall).
  Wikipedia says we can encounter it in
 South, East and Southeast Asia.
 Its siblings must be experiencing vigorous economic growth now …

Then, I’ve learned in the 19th century Britons were crazy about ferns, which created a word “Pteridomania.” Of course, Chinese have been eating ferns for millennium. In Hawaii, palapalai, aka Microlepia strigose, is important symbol for island culture. Kiwis of New Zealand have certainly a good reason to take satisfaction in their unique world of ferns where they have rich list of endemic species. Ashanti of Ghana has well-established symbol of Aya, i.e. fern fronds, in their Adinkra symbols. Native American tribes, and people in Kerala of India have mythology with ferns … ad infinitum.

Hena pattern which is one of the standards
 of Liberty Print of London, with peacock-motif.
 When I bought it,
 I had a connotation with ferns somehow …

And actually, there is a fern called Maidenhair Fern,
 aka Adiantum pedatum, or Kujakushida in Japanese.
 “Kujaku” in Japanese means peacock.

Come to think of it, coals are fossils of ancient ferns some 300 million years ago. Many ferns are survivors of Jurassic period, adopting their reproduction strategy in keeping with changing environment for many many years. Patronizing them as “uniquely ours” must be laughably nonsense for this miraculous plant. Rather, they are patronizing us …? A sure thing is, finding their composed green in a forest during this scorching summer is literally cool. Let’s have a forest bathing next to ferns sighing in winds from mountain stream …

Could you see in this photo

Lemmaphyllum microphyllum Presl (Mamezuta in Japanese),

Crepidomanes Minutum (Uchiwagoke in Japanese),

 and Adiantum monochlamys Eaton (Hakoneshida in Japanese)?

Mamezuta can be found in East and Southeast Asia.

Hakoneshida is for East Asia.

Uchiwagoke is spreading all over

 from Africa to Polynesia along the equator.

 These tiny guys are tough.

Bushes of Hypolepis punctate (Thunb.) Mett. ex.Kuhn,
 or Iwahimewarabi in Japanese.
 Another regulars in East and Southeast Asia.
 In Japan it has reputation as a pioneer plant
 that comes out first after deforestation.

Yeah,
 a baby cicada found the place near ferns
 was comfortable to be an adult …

Just for our cooling-off …

If you find an environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Scent of the forest: Hinoki cypress, Kuromoji, …

Oh it’s so hot these days in Yokohama …
 let’s have an imaginary breeze from this mountain stream …

One of the main activities for forest bathing is enjoying the smell of forest. I think everyone knows when we enter a forest of whatever kind, it smells nice normally, doesn’t it? It helps us to relax, and that’s the first step to the benefit of forest bathing. Those are the scents spewed massively from living trees through their photosynthesis. In addition to such basic waft within a forest, there are several trees that have fragrance almost like perfume. They are raw materials of essential oils. Japanese traditional culture does not have essential oil, but our people have used such aromatic trees in different ways. I’m studying some of these trees now. Let me tell you what I’ve learned so far.

First, ubiquitous (at least in Kanagawa) Hinoki cypress, or Chamaecyparis obtusa. Their smell is the very reason why they are planted massively in afforested area of Japan. It has noble and soothing aroma. In addition, as a construction material properly treated wood of Hinoki keeps its close grain for centuries. So, Japanese has been used the tree for important structures such as temples and shrines. Horyuji Temple 法隆寺 in Nara Prefecture 奈良県 is the world-oldest wooden structure, built with Hinoki cypress. I imagine when the temple was inaugurated in the early 7^th century, the whole sanctuary must have been filled with noble scent … Though, when we find Hinoki essential oils in stores, the ingredient, hinokitiol, is normally extracted not from Hinoki cypress, but from Thujopsis dolabrata, aka Hiba or Asunaro in Japanese. That’s because while Hinoki trees contain negligible amount of hinokitiol, Hiba can yield enough amount of it for commercialization.

It’s a formidable Hinoki cypress in Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林.

Thujopsis dolabrata is endemic tree of Japan, and has certain connotation of inferiority compared with Hinoki trees. (This Wikipedia entry explains it nicely). Come to think of it, it’s very strange. As a construction material, Hiba has the same quality as Hinoki, and it contains more of hinokitiol. Why Hinoki is more appreciated than Hiba? … At the moment, the substantial afforested area with Hiba expands snowy regions of Japan such as Tohoku 東北 or Hokuriku 北陸 areas. I guess when rich and powerful of the 7^th century around Nara, much warmer than Tohoku, searched for nice trees for their mansions and temples, what they found nearby was Hinoki, not Hiba. Perhaps it was the beginning of celebrity status of Hinoki, and the reputation continues to the 21^st century. Typical QWERTY… In any case, we can extract only 1kg oil of hinokitiol from 100kg of tips of Hiba trees. I’ve learned that’s almost a typical thing to harvest essential oil from trees. i.e. We need to cut them massively to have a tiny bottle of essential oil. 

This Thujopsis dolabrata was planted
 in some 30 or so years ago in Tanzawa 丹沢,
 and it is still small.
 I guess the climate of Kanagawa is warm form them.

Lindera umbellate, aka Kuromoji in Japanese, is another scented superstar in Japanese forests, though it cannot be construction material as its adult size is 5-6m high with ø10cm of biggish boughs. Even though, it is appreciated with noble aroma we can receive from whichever part of the plant. We just pick a leaf from Kuromoji tree, and tear it a bit. The smell of Kuromoji will remain on our fingers. During tea ceremony, the best utensils to serve sweets are made of Lindera umbellate. Its blackish tone matches well to the serenity of tea ceremony, while its gracious but reserved smell blends perfectly well with delicate sweets for Maccha tea. When dried, its young leaves and stems can be herbal tea that contains linalool and geraniol (C₁₀H₁₈O), and so if properly taken the tree extract could have sedative and anti-inflammatory effects. These days, several Japanese makers (such as this one) extract essential oil from Kuromoji, though from 1kg of tree we can have only 1-3ml of oil. In the forests of Kanagawa, we can find a tree of Lindera umbellate once in 2-3 times of hiking, although they are bushy trees of often less than 1m tall. I once had an ambition to extract aromatic oil from Kuromoji by myself, but realized I had to cut a lot such smallish trees to have a meaningful amount of essential oil. That would be the reason anyway why utensils and teas of Kuromoji can demand such a cool price tag …

Small and bushy Kuromoji

This is a full-grown tree of Lindera umbellate in Tanzawa.
 Could you see berries?
 I squashed one of these, and to my surprise,  it did not render aromatic oil.
 Was it too young?

Kuromoji is in Lauraceae family, and trees of Lauraceae have a nice scent. Aromatic Parabezoin praecox, aka Aburachan in Japanese, belongs to the same Lauraceae family. Though its aroma is not as noble as Kuromoji, the tree renders similar scented whiff that gave me a flashback memory of visiting a store of Niel’s Yard Remedies. Early summer is the time when Abrachan started to bear round berries of about ø1cm. As they are still young and green, we can squash them by our finger tips. Sure enough the berries ooze slightly sticky liquid with nice scent, but the juice is rapidly oxidized and stains our fingers with tar like color. Before gas or electric light, oil extracted from berries and stems of Abrachan was used for lamps in Japan. I guess Abrachan lamps gave people soothing aroma when they quietly read books before go to bed … That’s lovely, isn’t it?

Aburachan flowers early spring in Tanzawa.

And in early summer, they become these cute berries.

I’m now learning such fragrant trees in forests of Kanagawa. And sometimes, I found my judgement for “lovely scent” does not consistent with traditional naming of a plant. I think Japanese name for Skunkvine (Paederia foetida), Hekusokazura, is unfair to this cute flowering vine. “He” = fart, and “Kuso” = poop; you’ve got the idea, right? Hm … English name of the plant is Skunkvine so that it might be global to regard the smell of this vine belongs to toilet. But, so far, I have not found the smell of it Hekusogazura that horrible. Yeah, it might be a bit tricky smell, but at least it’s not coming from bathroom, I think. The language of Hekusogazura is “Misanthrope; Misunderstood; Unexpected.” Huh, … smell is such an delicate issue even in phytoncide-full of forest … 

Paederia foetida. As long as you don’t tear them, they just smell grassy,
 believe me.

If you find an environmental issues in the forests of Kanagawa, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Apprentice! My first step for citizen science along Hadano Forestry Road 秦野林道

Kanagawa Forest Instructors’ Association has secretly famous experts who can perform as sentinels of environment in Kanagawa Prefecture. Several senior members are active policy makers for environmental revitalization in the Prefecture. Some others are for more than 20 years crucial contributors to the Nature Revitalization Plan for Tanzawa-Oyama Quasi-National Park 丹沢大山自然再生計画. Their voice is based on scientific data collection, patiently continued for decades in the forests and mountains of Kanagawa. I’ve heard some of my seniors were retired professors of the field, but majority were enthusiastic “amateurs” who have kept learning and reached to the level to make presentations for academic meetings. i.e. Perfect example for the achievement of citizen scientists ... Er well, for a freshman instructor like me, they are Hall-of-Famers, and so, beyond my reach. But, yeah, Rome was not built in a day, and a freshman is an easy assistant for them to collect data in the forest. Recently, I’ve joined their line-census for vegetation along Hadano Forestry Road 秦野林道. The day was a fun, and, … well, as a whole, that was really an educational experience.

Experts of citizen science are entering the forest.

This post is the second time I tell you about Hadano Forestry Road. (The first one was about Gabicho, aka Chinese hwamei, remember?) Actually, the area is like a main activity field for Kanagawa Forest Instructors’ Association, and hence I’m visiting the place frequently these days ... Anyway, the 13.7K road connects Yadoriki Community 寄 of Matsuda Town 松田町 and Kurokura Community 玄倉 of Yamakita Town 山北町. It’s a blacktop road wide enough for a car to pass, though it’s for permit-holding cars only. In theory, if we walk with a pace of 4K per hour, we should be able to conquer the entire itinerary in one day. Hmmmm, I’ve learned if we collect plant data along the road, it was more like 1K per hour at best even for the veterans. Do you think it leisurely? Well, please think again.

A Map of Hadano Forestry Road, provided at the entrance of the road. I tell you this map is well-crafted.

Indeed, the road is pleasant enough for light hiking.

In early summer, yellow flowers of Mallotus japonicas is in full-bloom along Hadano Forestry Road. The plant is dioecious. So, we have to differentiate male and female trees and record accordingly. “Hey, Freshman! Look at this. It’s a male flower for Mallotus japonicas. Those fluffy parts are for their stamens. You see?” Figuring out such differences in the trees of a valley at least 10m up is, I tell you, not easy. Or, discerning Carpinus laxiflora from Caprinus tschonoskii is tricky. Text books say when its leaf has less than 12 lateral-veins, it’s Carpinus laxiflora, whereas 12-15 veins are for Caprinus tschonoskii. Now you have a suspect tree 5m down on the slope from the forestry road. At least a very good binocular is needed. Oh yeah. Those veterans could spot noteworthy specimen along the road quickly, identify them, and then gave me their diagnosis with plants’ name. I took a photo and a note, together with the label of a plant, a place we’ve found them, and the condition of the plant (color of leaves, flowering, number of specimen found, insects’ trace, …).

The girl-flowers for Mallotus japonicas are chatting merrily here.

Male and female flowers of Mallotus japonicas with a young fruit of Caprinus japonica and a leaf of Acer cissifolium.

Boys and girls of Mallotus japonicas are standing nearby here.

Don’t you think
 those flowers of Cornus kousa look floating
 in the ocean of green leaves …

Telling you the truth, when I started to attend training courses for forest volunteers, which includes the seminars presided by academic experts of the nature, I found my brain was overwhelmed by massive amount of new information from forests. Is it Polygonatum odoratum, polygonatum falcatum, Polygonatum involucratum, or Disporum sessile? PANIC!!!! I think it was because I was clueless where to see in order for identifying a plant. In contrast, my senior forest volunteers know the thing, and take a cool step-by-step approach to classify a subject methodically. Even though, “Yes, in today’s DNA-based cataloging, maples are a part of Sapindaceae, and Aceraceae family was merged with Sapindaceae.” “Yes, we have to be careful here …” The process goes like this for each finding. It’s completely different from sports hiking to gain mileage or altitude quickly. The time in a forest flows very slowly, with an intellectual tension. That was a fun! Besides, at least on that evening, my feet were easy enough compared with them after a mountaineering day … My seniors gave me homework. “So, Naomi, you create a record of today’ study and email it to us. We’ll help you to check it collectively. Don’t worry.” Sounds very easy and kind offer for help, isn’t it?

The instructors are discussing … it’s fruits of Deutzia crenata.

These black-ish balls on the stem of Miscanthus sinensis are barns for aphids ants created.
 The famous symbiotic relationship is in action!

Large Phytolacca americana are
 easy to find along Hadano Forestry Road.
 They came Japan some 150 years ago,
 and expanding their territory since then …

The Kanagawa Forest Instructors’ Association has a format to record each of these findings, and I was tasked to fill the cells of the spreadsheet based on my note. That has been, I would say, very complicated procedure. On my desk every evening for a while, I matched my photo and memos, google-sought to figure out the characteristics of each plant to identify the picture, and double-checked APG Plant Classification System if I was correctly recording the data in the latest denomination. Is this photo is on the right or left side of the road? Which bridge we were crossing when I wrote this memo? Etc. etc. … It took 10 nights to complete a form with the data collected during 4 hours’ walk. At the end of the day, I felt I’ve done something. Very educational experience, I tell you.

The main theme of the day was
 to identify flowering Lilium auratum,
 but they were still in green buds
 early July in Hadano Forestry Road.
 One of my seniors told me
 this year spring flowers came very early,
 but the summer cadre keeps their regular pace no matter what.

Phew! An abbreviated (and translated) version of my report.
 Actually, on that day we recorded more than 100 kinds of plants including some endangered species.

My seniors told me they are now circulating my excel table to multiple-examination … Oh My Buddha … have I created a record receiving at least “Pass” grade? Being a sentinel of environment is a task required to be meticulous and patient … Don’t rush. I’ve learned a lesson.

Cute. I’m still carrying last week’s theme.😍

If you find an environmental issues in Tanzawa, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Life of in the Undergrowth: lots of bugs in the forests of Kanagawa Prefecture!

After breaking my right wrist, I had to concentrate my activities in forests not to actual maintenance works like thinning or mowing with powered tools, but to nature observation or to learning forest bathing. One of my friends told me, “Well, Naomi, it’s a kind of oracle from the goddess of mountain to reflect yourself with your broken wrist.” Er, OK. I’m recovering now and have started to join little by little summer mowing sessions in Niiharu and in the forests of Kanagawa Prefecture. Though, I noticed I now have a slightly different mind-set about my definition to have a fun in forests … unexpectedly to be honest. Before the incidence, I was like “Wow, keeping biodiversity in Japanese forests is really busy and hard works! We need more hands to complete weekend schedules for thinning (or mowing, or coppicing, or … pls. choose your pick). Busy, busy, busy.” Practically, I still think so, but … how should I put it? … I feel forests are different space from such city-rat mentality of “To Do List.” … Whatever humans do, it’s really difficult to force forests to behave according to our schedule. Yeah, we can enforce lots of yields or out-of-season harvests by applying chemicals or the like to veggies. But, of course, that’s not our forest volunteers want to achieve. Then, what? With my aching wrist, I realized a change in me when I saw insects.

Wonderful canopy of trees seen from a bridge
 over a deep valley in Tanzawa area 丹沢.
 So, birds are watching them always to spot food,
 like a caterpillar … really?

Till this season, I was not much aware of forest bugs around me. Yeah, butterflies flew before me a lot, or insect bites were weekend rituals these days. But it was just that. This spring, as I could not have worked with my saw for several months, I had lots of time in forests to see how moths behave, or the way Panorpa japonica ヤマトシリアゲ preys on the other insects (; it sucks bodily fluid of the other bugs by holding them tight … wow). I found simply observing them was fun! As both the City of Yokohama and Kanagawa Prefecture ask us to record the spotting of particular kinds of creatures in order to measure the condition of environment, it’s also like “hunting” them in forests. For this game I’ve learned we need to be strategic. In order to find Mnais costalis 二ホンカワトンボ with beautiful wings of reddish orange, we need to be near a gently flowing stream within a natural environment where the application of chemicals are minimum. To meet a chic Lethe diana クロヒカゲ, we have to enter a forest of substantial size without the record of marine transgression during interglacial period, like Tanzawa 丹沢 or Hakone 箱根. When there are many kinds of cockroaches which are different folks from the invaders to our kitchen, it’s a sign the forest is rich in biodiversity … Before powering up a chainsaw, let’s stop and look around. I could find a busy world of these creatures. Amazing.

Panorpa japonica in Niiharu Citizen Forest

Mnais pruinosa Yamamoto in a South Forest of Yokohama.
 Japan has 2 kinds of Mnais dragonflies,
 and Mnais pruinosa Yamamoto is for southern Japan.
 The North Forests of Yokohama has another,
  Mnais costalis which is for northern Japan.
  i.e.  Kanagawa Prefecture is on the border
 of these 2 kinds of Mnaises
  whose DNAs are different each other.
 Scholars for the Museum of Kanagawa Prefecture
 hypothesize they had a same ancestor long ago.
 During interglacial period
 when a much higher sea level created
 a complicated shoreline in present-day Kanagawa,
 the community of Mnais was divided accordingly
 and the species evolved to have different genes.

Vanessa indica in Tanzawa.
 It’s a common butterfly from India to the east, and so,
 the City of Yokohama designates them
 an indicator species which could imply
 the condition of natural environment in a city.

Ypthima argus in a forestry road of Tanzawa.
 They don’t like cities and
 we have to go to relatively clear forests of mountains.

Cradles of Attelabidae,
 made of leaves of Euptelea Polyandra,
 we found on a forestry road.
 Hey, any car of deer hunters can crash them!

Chubby Amata fortunei in Niiharu Citizen Forest

During forest instructor trainings, we’ve learned the objective of taking care of forests with chainsaws is to facilitate activities of non-humans in forests. Plants are the basis of forests; lots of plants mean lots of tiny creatures, like insects, birds, and the others, that can feed on them. Saws and sickles are to help plants to thrive and sustain living things that depend on vegetation. Then come those carnivorous ones, again insects, birds, fishes, animals … to eat the herbivorous things. At the end of the cycle is the sweepers in forests, like microbes, mushrooms, carrion beetles, … cleaning up the dead bodies of any of living things on the ground and make the soil rich for the plants to cover the floor … that’s the theory. Though, it’s easy for us to be into cutting trees or mowing grasses carelessly. It’s simply a fun to apply chainsaw, oh yeah. Meanwhile, forests have their own time no matter what. Wielding saws cannot change it, unless we end up with create a desert or destroy completely a mountain. So, human activity in a forest is like reciting Om always to keep a pace with the environment where so many caterpillars are munching fresh early-summer leaves and dreaming to molt soon … Hmmmmmmm, my tiny step to enlightenment, isn’t it? Maybe, the goddess of the mountain truly has given me the time to feel that with my bandaged dominant hand. Oh dear …

Lycaena phlaeas in early spring of Niiharu Citizen Forest.
 They lay eggs on Polygonaceae in an open field.
 i.e. Well-timed mowing by humans is important for them to thrive.

Mycalesis gotama in Niiharu Citizen Forest.
 They lay eggs in the bushes of Pleiblastus chino. If we too enthusiastically mow bamboo grass in a forest,
 they would be gone.
 Thankfully, they are ubiquitous for now …
 I think their understated bull’s eye patterns are chic,
 representing Japanese traditional rural life …

Two snails taking a nap
 on the back of a leaf of kudzu (Pueraria montana) … ZZZZZZZZ

Marks of spawning by white stripe long-horned beetle
 on Quercus serrata in Niiharu.
 Their caterpillars then dig further deep
 in the trunk eating the fresh of the tree.
 When they do this in commercial chestnut orchard,
 they are enemy of farmers.
 But they simply use old deciduous broad-leaved trees
 for their procreation,
 and hence contribute to forest regeneration
 when the forest is natural and healthy.
 Do we regard them nuisance? Or …

Lots of cecidium! Another sign of cradles for bugs.

Table manner of insects 😄

So sorry for out-of-focus photo …
 could you figure out a caterpillar of Lymantria dispar in the middle?

Whose baby is this?

This is cute!
 A tiny caterpillar of Kaniska canace on a leaf of Smilax china.

And his older brother in the same house of Smilax china in Niiharu.
 Hmmmmmmmmm …
 I’m entering into the world of ”Nausicaä of the valley of the wind” …

If you find a problem in Yokohama’s forests, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North北部公園緑地事務所

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-311-2016

FAX: 045-316-8420

Or

Office for the Park Greeneries in the South 南部公園緑地事務所

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-831-8484

FAX: 045-831-9389