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posted: June 30th, 2012 |
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This page begins with June 1st and a trip to Nogawa Park, near our house. Then we proceed to June 2nd and a trip to and climb of Mt. Takao (599 m = 1,965 feet) in search of the Dendrobium moniliforme orchid. In Japanese this is called "Sekkoku". The English common name is the "Japanese Stone Orchid". Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin June 1st |
As it says above, on June 1st Kazuya and I went to Nogawa Park - easy bicycling distance from our apartment. We went into the fenced-in natural area and took a few photos. The first one here is a shot of Filipendula purpurea. The next 2 shots are of Neptis pryeri, which is a butterfly which is not normally found here in Tokyo. At least that's what a man told us who was also watching this creature flitting about. It's not a rare breed, merely something which was out of its normal range.
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 June01_03_NogawaPk_ Filipendula_purpureaRC |
 June01_06_NogawaPk_ Neptis_pryeriRC |
 June01_09_NogawaPk_ Neptis_pryeriRC |
Here are 2 shots of Bletilla striata - an Orchid - and a shot of a white colored Swallowtail Butterfly. I searched for this species with Google, but could not find any images which precisely matched this one (probably Papilio machaon) any additional information would be appreciated.
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 June01_33_NogawaPk_ Bletilla_striataRC |
 June01_34_NogawaPk_ Bletilla_striataRC |
 June01_37_NogawaPk_White_ Swallowtail_ButterflyRC |
| End June 1st, Begin June 2nd |
The next day, June 2nd, we went out and climbed Mt. Takao in search of the Dendrobium moniliforme Orchids (Sekkoku in Japanese). I finally found an English common name for this species - one site lists it as the Japanese Stone Orchid. You may already know that we attempt to go to Mt. Takao every year near the beginning of June to find this orchid. As always - we were successful! This species grows way up in the tallest and oldest Cedar Trees. That means that they are far away and you have to have a camera which can zoom pretty good to get close-up photos. My new Canon SX40-HS, with it's 35X Optical Zoom came in handy - the 4x Digital Zoom, which increases the zoom to 140X was nice too, but for the most part those 140x photos were not worth keeping. Oh, you can search for past years photos using the search box below. Notice that the 3rd shot in this row is the same as the first one, but zoomed in for a closer view.
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 Jun02_06_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_01_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_07_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). Note that the 2nd shot is the same as the 1st shot, merely zoomed in. The 3rd shot shows a nice Cedar branch with many flowers on it.
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 Jun02_12_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_14_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_24_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
The first 2 shots in this row also show increasingly zoomed in photos of the same flower group.
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 June2nd_ MtTakao017RC |
 Jun02_28_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_26_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
All 3 shots in this row show increasingly zoomed-in shots of the same area of flowers.
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 Jun02_31_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_32_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_33_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Three more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). The 2nd shot should give you an idea of the scale of things here.
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 Jun02_38_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_39_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao025RC |
And, here are 3 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). The 3rd shot, again, may give you an idea of the scale of this area.
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 Jun02_42_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao027RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao034RC |
The first shot in this row will give you a small idea of the abundance of the Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid) in this valley, as well as an idea of the scale.
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 June2nd_ MtTakao036RC |
 Jun02_47_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_50_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Three more orchid shots.
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 Jun02_51_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao044RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao047RC |
And, 2 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). These are not the last of them.
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 Jun02_65_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao055RC |
Here are 3 shots of Cremastra appendiculata - another Orchid. We found more of this species than we usually find here.
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 June2nd_ MtTakao056RC |
 Jun02_73_MtTakao_ Cremastra_appendiculataRC |
 Jun02_71_MtTakao_ Cremastra_appendiculataRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid).
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 Jun02_81_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_82_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_91_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
And ... 3 more shots. These 3 shots should all give you an idea of the scale.
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 June2nd_ MtTakao076RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao077RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao079RC |
The first shot here is a really zoomed-in shot which shows that these flowers can sometimes be a bit pinkish colored. The 2nd image is composed of 4 stitched together panorama images of one large branch of a tree.
By the way, you can find a larger version of the center photo HERE (new window or tab) and you can also find a link to it on the "Special Items" Page. The 3rd shot is a photo of Helwingia japonica - a species in which the fruit grows up out of the center of the leaf. Back in 2005 I created a collage of photos showing several stages of the growth of this fruit. You can find it HERE (new window or tab).
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 Jun02_101_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_109_10_11_12_Panorama_Mt Takao_Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_116_MtTakao_ Helwingia_japonicaRC |
Here is one more shot of the Helwingia japonica leaf and fruit. Then there are 2 more shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). The 3rd shot shows a zoomed-in portion of the 2nd shot.
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 Jun02_121_MtTakao_ Helwingia_japonicaRC |
 Jun02_123_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 Jun02_125_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
Here is another flower which we specifically came here to see today. This is the Pseudopyxis depressa f. angustiloba plant. We found more flowering specimens of this plant this year than we had ever found before.
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 Jun02_127_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
 Jun02_131_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
 Jun02_137_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Pseudopyxis depressa f. angustiloba. Notice that sometimes the flower has 5 petals and sometimes 6 petals.
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 June2nd_ MtTakao114RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao112RC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao118RC |
The first shot here is a bit different than the previous 6 shots - it is a Pseudopyxis depressa, as is the 3rd shot in this row. The center shot is another example of the angustiloba form of Pseudopyxis depressa.
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 Jun02_148_MtTakao_ Pseudopyxis_depressaRC |
 Jun02_154_MtTakao_Pseudopyxis _depressa_f_angustilobaRC |
 Jun02_159_MtTakao_ Pseudopyxis_depressaRC |
Both shots in this row show examples of Pseudopyxis depressa - NOT the angustiloba form.
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 Jun02_166_MtTakao_ Pseudopyxis_depressaRC |
 Jun02_169_MtTakao_ Pseudopyxis_depressaRC |
We were rather surprised to find some specimens of yet one more Orchid today. This is the Silver Orchid (Cephalanthera erecta). Unfortunately the flowers were not yet open and there were only about 4 plants.
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 Jun02_177_MtTakao_ Cephalanthera_erectaRC |
 Jun02_179_MtTakao_ Cephalanthera_erectaRC |
In this row are 3 images of Saxifraga stolonifera - The "Dai" Flower. The 3rd image is merely a cropped version of the center shot.
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 Jun02_180_MtTakao_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
 Jun02_192_Orig_MtTakao_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
 Jun02_192_Crop_MtTakao_ Saxifraga_stoloniferaRC |
We were a bit surprised to find some more Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid) growing near the base of the mountain, as we descended. These were also quite low in the trees and therefore quite a bit closer to us. They were not especially abundant, but they were here!
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 June2nd_ MtTakao145RC |
 Jun02_198_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao147RC |
And, here are the final 2 shots of Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku in Japanese) (Japanese Stone Orchid). This flower is quite short lived, so we won't see any more until next year!
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 Jun02_202_MtTakao_ Dendrobium_moniliformeRC |
 June2nd_ MtTakao151RC |
| End June 2nd, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this month's adventures. |
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