Flower Thieves, No More: why does somebody do it!?

 

Orange day lilies in full-bloom in Yokohama’s forests …

Last March, Kanagawa Prefecture updated the list of endangered plants in the Prefecture. The newest version is after 15 years of follow-up study as the previous publication was for 2006. In the list, there are regulars, newly adds, and (celebration!) graduates. Of course, among regulars, some are reported so-so improvement of the status, some are inching to extinction, and the other do not show any change in their situation. There is one that shows a slight improvement of their condition. The plant is called Vincetoxicum pycnostelma, or Suzusaiko in Japanese. In 2006, it was Endangered Species (EN). This time it has Vulnerable status (VU) in Kanagawa Prefecture. Yeah, it is a progress, but a tiny one. We must protect it. By the way, for nation-wide categorization for 2020, Ministry of the Environment defined Suzusaiko as Near Threatened (NT). In Tokyo, it is extinct. In some other prefectures, they have more robust presence, I hope …

Micromelalopha troglodyte.
I think this is one of the smallest Prominents moths in Japan.

Japanese “Saiko” is a classic name for horticultural Thorow Wax, a plant of Apiaceae family. Suzusaiko is in Asclepiadaceae family. They are not at all relatives. The reason why Vincetoxicum pycnostelma is named “Suzusaiko” is their bud look like those for Thorow Wax. Having said that, unlike Thorow Wax the blooms of Suzusaiko appear independently at the tip of a stem. They are delicately shaped in sleigh bell, i.e., “Suzu” in Japanese. Actually, they have narrow leaves, different from round leaves of Thorow Wax, and the buds and so flowers are tinier. Moreover, the color of the flower of Suzusaiko is dark maroon, VERY dissimilar to normally bright-yellow flowers of Thorow Wax. In fact, when they do not have buds or flowers, they look like ordinary cogon grass. During a brief period of early summer, say a week between June and July, they have tiny understating buds. Then, when they open they show star-shaped flower in dark maroon, only for a couple of days in early morning. If you go to see them at, say, noon, the flowers are already closed, or shriveled. For some maniacs of rare flowers they could be “the” object of desire. And so, normally when we know where to go for this flower, we keep our mouth shut. (And I won’t tell you where I took these photos!)

Flowers of Suzusaiko

Recently at 7:00 in a morning I went that place to admire such noble species … This year there were 3 plants showing very young buds a week before. However, when I’ve been there for flowers, there was only one, and the other two were decapitated probably with scissors. Oh my … Maybe that person wanted to see the buds open in his/ her pretty flower vase. But, but, but … it’s not a commercially available flower. It’s in the official endangered list for Japanese flora … Why, why, WHY? (The same theme will continue for the next week …)

The only remaining buds for this year …
Accordingly, the number of
possible seeds become smaller!
Naomi’s angry now.

If you find 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/