On March 10th, to tackle Covid-19 the PM of Japan asked us to keep steady-on for at least 10 more days with school closures and national “well-behaviors.” The annual tree-planting event for Kanagawa Forest of Growth かながわ県成長の森 was cancelled. This March, there is no tour for admiring Edgeworthia chrysantha in Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林. (Please see my post last year on March 29.) Frankly, we Kanagawa Forest Instructors are bored. So, although we do not do instructor-things, we are checking how Yadoriki Forest is doing in March 2020 after super-typhoons last year. The Prefecture, the landlord of Yadoriki Forest, limits public entrance to the Forest (; for the detail by map, please check here), yep. My seniors obtained a sort of OK from the Office that we enter the forest for patrol, provided we do not congregate in closed cabins for lunch or meeting. Sure, we are good boys and girls of out-door types. We do not like to picnic indoors when we’re in a forest. No problem. We’ve been there recently to see how Edgeworthia chrysantha was this year. We have found some scars of storms …
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| Probably,
the biggest cedar in Yadoriki Forst. It was planted around 1900. |
As I posted several times since last autumn (; the latests were the posts on January 3rd and 10th), Yadoriki Water Source Forest has received substantial changes, such as broken and fallen trees and massive landslides, with the storms. I imagined chrysnatha’s bushy trees of fragrant yellow flowers could have been affected. In addition, this unusually warm winter may have done something for the flowers. Yeah. My guess was right. The Edgeworthia chrysantha this year has reached its peak flowering early March, 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. They did not smell much as they did last year. Their yellow looked weaker … Many have been hit by fallen branches of surrounding cedars and cypresses. The droppings of larger trees were still dangling in the canopy of Edgeworthia here and there. Worse, some of them were completely knocked down and uprooted by the impact. Sad.
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| Hmmmmm. It looks not that bad in this photo this year … Is it because of me choosing this angle? |
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| But
don’t you think their flowers are not that much plump this year as in last year? |
We had lunch surrounded by the not-so-vigorous yellow flowers, listening singing of Eurasian wren. My senior instructors were philosophical. “You see? I’m entering in this area for 20 years every spring to check Edgeworthia chrysantha. When I first came, they were more on that ridge, but not here. Now they have moved this much, and the place where once they were does not have any.” “During all of these years, they flower spectacularly one year, and disappointing for the next. It’s just a natural thing.” Pro foresters were busy clearing up broken cypress with chainsaw over there. The singing stopped. “It would take more time to sort out the mess here, don’t you think?” “At least, this year we will not invite visitors. Not much dangers. In the end, Covid-19 might have done something OK.” …
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| Men at work, over there. |
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| Edgeworthia
chrysantha were
once spreading on the ridge with sunshine over there. It is some 100m away from the points where they are now. Wow. |
Although hikers to Mt. Nabewari (鍋割山 ASL 1272m) hurried to Ameyama Pass 雨山峠 in the morning, not many people hung around in Yadoriki Forest. It was very calm and quiet, unless motorized sound of chainsaw roared. As a forest instructor, I should have felt upsetting for the situation … Instead, I found myself relaxed, and relieved. Omphalodes japonica has started flowering. Even violets opened their petals. Mosses already shot up their sporophyte for their procreation. Eurasian wren, Japanese bush warblers, Varied tit, … early birds were singing. Spring has come! Under blue open sky, I didn’t feel Covid-19 threatening …
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| Omphalodes japonica. They are positively cute, aren’t they? |
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| Sporophyte for Bryum capillare |
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| Skimmia japonica has large buds, as usual |
And now, I have a problem. When can I go to my hair salon!? I’m watching my untidy hair every morning in the mirror. It would take more time to sort out the mess here ... I don’t like Covid-19!
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| Lindera obtusiloba, the first caller of spring in Yadoriki |
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| Lindera unbellata is still sleeping … |
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/
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