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posted: May 31st, 2014 |
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This page begins with May 3rd and a trip to Tarumizu Dam in Miyagi Prefecture in search of a specific violet. Then we jump to May 4th and a trip to Kenmin-No-Mori, or Kenmin Forest, in Yamagata Prefecture - again in search of a specific violet. After that we take you to Mt. Mitake (in Tokyo) for a walk in the clouds. The final adventure on this page is a trip to a secret location in Tokyo on a search for a specific violet. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin May 3rd |
On May 3rd we got up at 3:30 AM, and 4 hours later we had taken 2 different trains, the 2nd one a Shinkansen, and we were at Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture. We then took a bus out towards Tarumizu Dam in search of Viola mirabilis var. subglabra. We ended up walking the entire distance around the lake created by Tarumizu Dam and we found some, but they were mostly finished blooming already. The first shot in this row shows the road as we walked from the bus stop up towards the dam. We'll be going straight ahead - to the left of the torii which marks the entrance to that small shrine there. The 2nd shot shows a field of "long onion" and offers an interesting color contrast. The 3rd shot shows a portion of the lake behind Tarumizu Dam. We were standing on the earth dam when we took this shot.
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 May3rd_ TarumizuDam001RC |
 May03_02_TaruMizu Dam_OnionFieldRC |
 May03_03_TaruMizu Dam_TaruMizuDamRC |
The first shot in this row shows the flowers of Akebia quinata. The Akebia quinata produces a tasty purple fruit which you can buy in the autumn. The 2nd shot shows a pair of Trillium tschonoskii plants with flowers and the 3rd shot shows a Trillium smallii - the "other kind" of Trillium.
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 May03_05_TaruMizu Dam_Akebia_quinataRC |
 May03_12_TaruMizuDam_ Trillium_tschonoskiiRC |
 May03_18_TaruMizuDam _Trillium_smalliiRC |
The first shot in this row shows a Lithospermum zollingeri - something which we seldom see. The 2nd shot is a closer one of Trillium smallii and the 3rd shot shows a Viola yezoensis f. discolor - the Takao Violet, but it's a long way from Takao!
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 May3rd_TarumizuDam007 _LithospermumZollingeriRC |
 May03_19_TaruMizuDam _Trillium_smalliiRC |
 May3rd_TarumizuDam 023_ViolaYezoensisRC |
The first shot here is a scenic shot which shows a hill above Tarumizu Dam and the green colors of spring. The 2nd shot is the violet which we came here in search of - Viola mirabilis var. subglabra. This was NOT a new one for our life-list, but it's one which we seldom see and only know a very few locations where we can find it.
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 May3rd_Tarumizu Dam037RC |
 May3rd_TarumizuDam039_Viola MirabilisVarSubglabraRC |
Here are 2 more Violets shots - the first is a Viola yezoensis - the Hikage Violet. The 2nd shot is a Viola rostrata var. japonica. These are the final 2 shots which we have selected to show you from this date.
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 May3rd_TarumizuDam0 45_ViolaYezoensisRC |
 May3rd_TarumizuDam051_ ViolaRostrataVarJaponicaRC |
| End May 3rd, Begin May 4th |
On the following day, due to circumstances beyond our control we had to return home, despite the fact that it was only the 2nd day of a 4-day National Holiday period. We decided to go to a park near Yamagata City where we might be able to find a species of Violet which we had only found one time before. The first shot shows a map of Kenmin-No-Mori (Kenmin Forest) and the red arrow shows our specific destination - Biwa Pond. The 2nd and 3rd shots shows photos of Viola kusanoana.
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 May4th_KenminNo Mori002RC |
 May04_03_KenminNoMori _Viola_kusanoanaRC |
 May04_04_KenminNoMori _Viola_kusanoanaRC |
The first shot in this row is another of Viola kusanoana. The 2nd and 3rd shots show the species we hoped to find here - Viola violacea f. versicolor. We had only found this violet one time before, so it was quite exciting to find it again. There was rather an abundance of them too! We had to search hard to find them and at first we found only leaves, but no flowers. Then we came into an area where they were in bloom and were also in abundance. We got a lot of photos of them.
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 May4th_KenminNoMori 011_ViolaKusanoanaRC |
 May4th_KenminNoMori022_Viola ViolaceaFVersicolorRC |
 May4th_KenminNoMori026_Viola ViolaceaFVersicolorRC |
Here is an additional shot of Viola violacea f. versicolor and then 2 shots of Biwa Pond. This is the only naturally occurring pond in this area. As you may have noted on the map, there are several ponds in this forest, but all of the other ones are man-made.
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 May04_07_KenminNoMori_Viola _violacea_f_versicolorRC |
 May04_23_Kenmin NoMori_BiwaPondRC |
 May04_21_Kenmin NoMori_BiwaPondRC |
Here are 2 more shots of Viola violacea f. versicolor and then another shot of Biwa Pond.
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 May04_41_KenminNoMori_Viola _violacea_f_versicolorRC |
 May04_42_KenminNoMori_Viola _violacea_f_versicolorRC |
 May04_48_Kenmin NoMori_BiwaPondRC |
Here are the final 2 shots from this adventure. The first is another photo of Viola violacea f. versicolor and the 2nd shot shows how early in the spring it still is at this location - the trees are just budding out.
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 May04_54_KenminNoMori_ Viola_violacea_f_versicolorRC |
 May4th_KenminNo Mori132RC |
| End May 4th, Begin May 6th |
On Tuesday, May 6th, the final day of the 4 day National Holiday period, we went out to Mt. Mitake hoping to find a specific violet which we usually end up finding well after its peak of blooming. It was a cloudy day, but we did not expect to be "in the clouds" on Mt. Mitake. As you can easily see in the 1st and 3rd shots in this row, we were however, "in the clouds". The first shot shows a Rhododendron in bloom, the 2nd shot shows a nice little patch of Viola grypoceras and the 3rd shot shows me walking up the road to the Mt. Mitake Shrine Area - in the clouds.
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 May6th_Mt Mitake_001RC |
 May6th_MtMitake_006_ ViolaGrypocerasRC |
 May6th_Mt Mitake_003RC |
We found more of this parasitic Lathraea japonica than we had ever seen before. This plant contains no chlorophyll and the specimens we saw were a ways off the trail so we did not go up in the wet brush to get any excellent photos. This is the best shot we got, or the best shot that Kazuya got. I didn't even take my camera out of my backpack it was so wet! The 2nd shot shows the clouds in the trees, or the trees in the clouds, as we hiked along. The 3rd shot is what we came here in search of - Viola shikokiana. They are all clustered pretty close together, so I got my camera out and tried to get some photos, but it was so dark that I had to use AUTO ISO and all of my photos came out so crappy due to AUTO Mode using ISO 1600, that I did not keep a single one of the Violets photos.
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 May6th_MtMitake_008 _Lathraea_japonicaRC |
 May6th_Mt Mitake_009RC |
 May6th_MtMitake_024 _ViolaShikokianaRC |
Here are the 3 final shots of Viola shikokiana. They are keepers, even if not the greatest quality.
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 May6th_MtMitake_029 _ViolaShikokianaRC |
 May6th_MtMitake_030 _ViolaShikokianaRC |
 May6th_MtMitake_040 _ViolaShikokianaRC |
Here is a shot of Kazuya in the clouds near the place where the Viola shikokiana was. The final shot from this day shows even thicker clouds in the trees than the previous similar shot.
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 May06_001_Mt Mitake_KazuyaRC |
 May6th_Mt Mitake_045RC |
| End May 6th, Begin May 8th |
On May 8th I had to work, but Kazuya had the morning free, so he went out to a secret location that a friend told us about in search of a violet we had found before, but had never found in bloom before. There are 3 plants of Viola phalacrocarpa x Viola chaerophylloides f. sieboldiana here. It is an extremely rare hybrid violet and it is the only location where we have ever seen it. So, this should tell you that you should expect to see several photos of this one specimen which was in bloom.
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 May8th_008_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
 May8th_014_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
 May8th_009_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
Click the above button for a Special Page dedicated to most of the Violets which we have identified with confidence (recently updated). |
And, of course you expected to see more photos of this Viola phalacrocarpa x Viola chaerophylloides f. sieboldiana - an extremely rare hybrid violet, right? Well, please expect to see even more.
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 May8th_022_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
 May8th_042_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
 May8th_075_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
Here are 3 images of Viola phalacrocarpa x Viola chaerophylloides f. sieboldiana - an extremely rare hybrid violet which show only the flowers. The first one was magnetically lassoed from the center shot of the previous row and then saved as a separate image. The 2nd shot was magnetically lassoed out of the first photo in Row 19. The 3rd image was magnetically lassoed out of a photo which is not shown here.
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This magnetically lassoed leaf image, also taken from a photo which is not shown here, shows how interesting the leaf of this Viola phalacrocarpa x Viola chaerophylloides f. sieboldiana is. The 2nd shot is a collage which we put together for the special Violets Page which you can access from the link between Rows 15 and 16. This image contains portions of 5 different photos. Eventually we will also update the Some Violets of Eastern Japan - 2nd Edition Book (will open in new tab or window) to include this species - probably later on this year, but after the end of the Violets season.
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 May10_18_WesternTokyo_Viola_phalacrocarpa_x_ Viola_chaerophylloides_f_sieboldiana_LeafRC |
 May8th_Viola_phalacrocarpa_x_ Viola_chaerophylloides_f_sieboldianaRC |
Here is the final photo of Viola phalacrocarpa x Viola chaerophylloides f. sieboldiana (on this page) and also another shot of Viola hirtipes.
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 May8th_110_ViolaPhalacrocarpa XViolaChaerophylloidesFSieboldianaRC |
 May8th_144_ ViolaHirtipesRC |
| End May 8th, 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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