On my recent visit to Western Japan I ran into three interesting plants, showing that plant identification work can be done even while travelling.
What plants have YOU discovered?
Bletilla striata (urn orchid)
This plant is very popular in Niigata city.
Callistemon speciosus
This is a shrub in the Myrtaceae family, endemic to Australia. It flowers in spring or early summer. The flowers look like bottlebrushes;
the obvious parts of the flower are stamens with pollen at the tip of the filaments.
Dahlia imperialis
8-10m tall, tuberous, herbaceous perennial; rapidly growing from the base after a dormant winter period, developing brittle, cane-like, four-angled stems with swollen nodes and large tri-pinnate leaves, those near the ground soon being shed
Flowers in autumn before the first frost.
