5/30/2008

Spikemoss (iwahiba)

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Spikemoss (iwahiba, iwamatsu)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Summer
***** Category: Plant


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Explanation

spikemoss, "rock hiba", iwa hiba, iwahiba
岩檜葉 (イワヒバ, いわひば)
..... "rock pine", iwa matsu, iwamatsu 岩松


Sellaginella tamariscina

Spikemoss refers to any plant of the genus Selaginella in the family Selaginellaceae. Many workers still place the Selaginellales in the class Lycopsida (modern nomenclature: Lycopodiopsida). This group of plants are included in what, for convenience, is called "fern allies".
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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It grows wild in the remote valleys of Japan. During the dry months it is almost rolled upside down and shows the brown back of its leaves. When the summer rains start, it sprouts again in splendid green. It looks almost like conifere, hence its name.
It has been cultivated for bonsai since the Edo period.

Hiba ヒバ is a special kind of conifer in Northern Japan (Taujopsis dorabrate).
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Aomori, Hiba forest


Now, over 200 cultivars are registered in the list of NIHON IWAHIBA RENGOOKAI (= Japan IWAHIBA Association, established in 1952). Exhibitions of IWAHIBA cultivars are held in several places in Japan in autumn.
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© plantsandjapan


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU


五月の雨岩檜葉の緑いつまでぞ
五月の雨岩ひばの緑いつ迄ぞ」
さつきのあめ いわひばのみどり いつまでぞ
satsuki no ame iwahiba no midori itsu made zo

rainy season ...
the greenness of spikemoss
how long will it last?


Matsuo Basho, age 37
Tr. Gabi Greve


Early summer rain!
How long does it stay: the greenness
Of iwahiba?

(translated by TOSHIHARU OSEKO)

Look at a sweet with this name, Iwahiba.
Nakamura Yoshihide

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Related words

***** Pine (matsu) Japan

***** Sweets from Japan (wagashi)



***** . MOSS (koke) and Kigo .



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

by the window
rereading old love letters
... bonsai tree in bloom

Am catching up on a lot of unopened mail, but won't finish today. The Dutch will play Wales in an hour or so.

Our letters are like spikemoss, actually, still fresh and amusing after 20 years together, just like our favourite potted plant, whom we've named Buster and who has some nine lives and still counting.

:>) Ella