July 14, 2014

Ozegahara (Part 1) (July 12th)

Mt. Shibutsu on the way to Yama-no-hana.
There was little snow left on the mountain.

   Here is the first bunch of the pictures taken at the Ozegahara area.
It was sunny and clear all day and we felt so nice because it was pretty cool, not like in Tokyo.

尾瀬ヶ原の画像の第一弾。
この日は鳩待峠から見晴キャンプ場まで歩きました。
東京の猛暑が嘘のように、バスを降りた途端、涼しさに驚きました。

Andromeda polifolia (Hime Shakunage).

Geum pentapetalum (Chinguruma).

Eleorchis japonica (Sawa Ran, or Asahi Ran).
湿原のあちこちで咲いていました。

Eleorchis japonica (Sawa Ran, or Asahi Ran).
ほとんどの花が開ききらずうつむき加減。

Eleorchis japonica (Sawa Ran, or Asahi Ran).

Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta (Nikkou Kisuge, Zenteika)
and Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).
ワタスゲは終盤。所々で群生してました。
キスゲは咲き出したばかり。 

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).
奥の方にはカキツバタも群生してました。

Mt. Shibutsu and Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).

Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata).

Nymphaea tetragona (Hitsuji-gusa).
水中で咲いてます。

Mt. Hiuchigatake.
 

Nymphaea tetragona (Hitsuji-gusa).

Pogonia japonica (Toki-sou).
何が写ってるかよく分からないかもしれませんが、
白っぽく点々と群生してるのはトキソウです。

Pogonia japonica (Toki-sou).
こちらも湿原のあちらこちらで群生していました。

Pogonia japonica (Toki-sou).

Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata).

Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta (Nikkou Kisuge, Zenteika) 
and Mt. Hiuchigatake.

Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta (Nikkou Kisuge, Zenteika) 
and Mt. Hiuchigatake.

July 13, 2014

The Oze Trip (July 12th & 13th)

The 3 larch trees and Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) by Oze-numa. 

   We went to the Oze area this weekend.
We took the first Shinkansen to Takasaki and then took the local train to Numata, where we took the bus to Tokura.  And we took the bus to Hatomachi-touge.
We arrived at the pass around 10 AM.  We walked around the Ozegahara wetland and camped out Miharashi Camp Site.
On Day 2, we hiked up to the Oze-numa area.  We saw amazing scenery with Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).

出かけるなら今週末しか、タイミングがしばらくなさそうだったので、
尾瀬ヶ原と尾瀬沼に出かけてきました。
なんだかんだで久々の遠出で楽しかったです。
ワタスゲ…本当に圧巻でした!
 
Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge).

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) and Mt. Hiuchigatake.

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) at Ozegahara.

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) and Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata).

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) and Mt. Shibutsu.

Eriophorum vaginatum (Wata Suge) at Ozegahara.

Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata).

Mt. Hituchigatake with some interesting clouds.

Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata) and Mt. Hiuchigatake

Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta (Nikkou Kisuge, Zenteika) 
and Mt. Shibutsu.

Hemerocallis dumortieri var. esculenta (Nikkou Kisuge, Zenteika)
and Mt. Hiuchigatake.

Iris laevigata (Kakitsubata).
It seems to be good year for this flower, too. 

June 22, 2014

Somewhere in Western Tokyo (June 21st)

 Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).
"Kaki" means "persimmon" in Japanese.

     We went to see some orchid flowers by some rice paddies in a valley.
We could see quite a few of them blooming.  This kind of orchid has lovely flowers with amazing combination of colors, orange and pink!

去年は独りで見に行ったカキラン。今年は相方と一緒に見に行くことができました。
 
  
Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

  
 Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).
There were still quite a few unopened buds.

  
 Spiraea japonica (Shimotsuke).

I couldn't identify this tiny yellow flower.

Spiranthes sinensis var. amoena (Nejibana).

Spiranthes sinensis var. amoena (Nejibana).

Cirsium japonicum (No Azami).

 Lotus japonicus (Miyako-gusa).

  
Prunella vulgaris subsp. asiatica (Utsubo-gusa).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).
 
Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).
 
Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

Epipactis thunbergii (Kaki Ran).

We found a nice tree of Persimmon (Kaki).
The fruits were, of course, still green.