Discussion

This week's two painting subjects are the second pair taken from the seven flowers of autumn based on a poem that originally appeared in Man’yōshū, Japan's oldest anthology of poetry, that was discussed last week. The pair of the seven-flowers we are taking up this week is the Japanese Arrowroot (kuzu クズ) and Patrinia scabiosifolia (ominaeshi 女郎花).

About the Japanese Arrowroot (kuzu クズ)

The English word for kuzu is kudzu, or sometimes "the vine that ate the south" referring to the American south. The picture below taken in Georgia provides an example of why it has that nickname and why kudzu is big environmental news in the U.S.

Nearly everything in the photo is covered by kudzu; ground, trees, hut, everything. It was introduced to the U.S. at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 in a garden featuring Japanese plants. It has several positive attributes. Kudzu is related to peas, and like peas, it is edible (unless sprayed by herbicides), grows rapidly, prevents soil erosion, and enriches the soil by adding nitrogen to it via nitrogen-fixing bacteria that thrive in its roots. It soon escaped (or was introduced) into the wild, and by the early 1900s, kudzu was widespread. The Federal Government's Soil Conservation Service hired people in the 1930s to assist its spread even further for erosion control to counteract bad farming practices. By 1940, they began hiring southern farmers to plant the vine by the acre. Its rapid growth rate led to its other nickname, "mile-a-minute" vine.

The problem is that kudzu grows too rapidly. Creepers can grow as much a foot a day, and can get to be as much as 100-feet long. Wherever nodes on stolons (runners) touch the soil, new roots are formed. Entire forests have been engulphed within three to four years. Kudzu-covered trees and other plants die out from lack of sunlight, leaving areas devastated. Kudzu loses its leaves in the winter, leaving scenes like the one below.

Kudzu continues to spread rapidly today with widely varying estimates of its annual increase in the thousands of acres. It is found as far north as Illinois, Oregon, and Washington in the U.S., and it has even been found in Canada. Rather than encouraging its spread, considerable money is spent these days suppressing its growth.

Kuzu or Japanese arrowroot leaves are high in protein and nutritional value. It is used in the U.S. for animal feed and for human consumption in Asia. Its roots can be used as a thickening agent in soups and other foods. In Japan, an herbal tea called kuzuyu is made from it. Chinese medicine uses kuzu extracts it to fight inflammation, infection, and numerous other ailments. Kuzu fibers have been used for basket making and making paper. A traditional hand-woven cloth called kuzufu is still made today using kuzu fibers for weft. One of its uses is to make hakama or kuzubakama, sometimes worn as part of a traditional costume during university graduation ceremonies in Japan. In the photo below, the reddish-colored portion of the young lady's outfit from her waist down is a kuzubakama. Men's versions are typically colored black or dark grey.

Kuzu leaves always have three leaflets as shown below. The center leaflet has three lobes, and the two side leaflets have two lobes each. Leaves are fuzzy to the touch.

New kuzu growth usually takes at least three years to flower.

Kuzu plants do have seeds, but the seeds only contribute to the plant's spread in a minor way. Most of its growth is vegetative. The seeds are not edible. Seeds that fall to the ground can lay hidden for years waiting for the right conditions to germinate, leading to new outgrowths long after an area is believed to have been cleared.

The hanging scroll below was painted about 1820 by Sakai Hōitsu (1761 - 1829), a prominent Rinpa school artist. It illuminates a poem by the waka poet, Toyama Mitsuzane (1756–1821). The poem is written in a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern and in this instance is read from the bottom left to the top right on the painting. In Japanese, the poem is:

更る夜をはなもうらみの いろみえで

葛の葉てらす 月ぞかたぶく

光貫

Its English translation is:

Like the colors of the blossoms,

my bitterness over love remains

unseen 'til the depths of night,

when the moonlight slants down

upon leaves of kudzu vines.

The picture by Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849) below may provide inspiration for your own paintings. It is a surimono (high-quality, limited production) print. Imagine the tree branch being entwined by kuzu leaves and see what you can come up with.

About Patrinia scabiosifolia (ominaeshi 女郎花)

Ominaeshi is a native Japanese perennial plant in the family valerianaceae. Hundreds of tiny yellow flowers grow in inflorescences at the tips of its stalks. A closely related plant called otokoeshi has white flowers. The meaning of ominaeshi in Japanese is "maiden flower" or ladyflower". It grows in sunny, grassy areas in mountains all over Japan.

Here is another look at the plant as a whole.

Ominaeshi have few long skinny leaves. The ones that look like they may be from ominaeshi in the top photo above are from a different plant. Here is a close-up of the correct ominaeshi leaves.

As a medicinal herb, ominaeshi has many uses. Among them are as an antibacterial, anticoagulant, ..., anti-lots of other things.

Here is a closer view of the flowers.

The photo below has its own built-in tenkei ladybug beetle.

Humans find parts of ominaeshi plants edible, too, especially young leaves, stem tips and flower buds. They can be cooked and added to soups or dried for later use.

The Butterflies and Ominaeshi painting below was by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) in 1835.