Japanese wildflowers and beautiful scarab beetle

 I went into the quiet woods as usual to look for mushrooms and wildflowers. I took a wrong turn on the way, but kept going, wondering where I was. On my first path I came across the woods of Sawtooth Oak and Quercus, but there were no wildflowers, so I went down the mountain and walked along a forest path that I knew. When I saw a pale purple flower on the side slope of the forest path, I wondered at first what it was. As I got closer, I realised that it was the flower of the perennial plant, Heloniopsis orientalis, which had just begun to bloom. Its English name is Oriental swamp pink, but we call it "shojo-bakama".  Shojo is a legendary animal in China with a red face, reminiscent of this red flower. And also, bakama (voiced sound of Hakama）means a long pleated, culotte-like Japanese garment.  It was named after the facts that the overlapping of the rosette basal leaves resembles a hakama garment.

This wildflower likes a damp spot, such as a shady slope in a forest where spring water seeps out.

As indicated by its scientific name, Heloniopsis orientalis, this plant originated from Asian area including Japan. 

You can see the purple stamens and pistils. 

 Because it happened to grow on the edge of a cut slope along a forest path, the flower stalk is actually tilted.

This is the full bloomed flower of Oriental Swamp Pink. The flower stalk is about 10cm long when in bloom but grows rapidly after flowering to reach 30-50cm.  

This is a mountain violet, if I translate the Japanese name directly.  Its scientific name is Viola selkirkii. Many flowers are blooming here and there.

Is it chickweed, a member of the chickweed family? 

(Above flower photos were taken on March 22nd and April 1st, 2024)

The weather is so nice today, so I went for a walk as usual in the woods near the village where I lived in my childhood. Although I didn't find anything interesting, I photographed everything that caught my eye. 

This is a family of scarab beetles with a body length of about 20 mm. I think it is Geotrupes auratus because it has a strong sheen and a clear line in the middle of the pronotum. Considering that it feeds on animal faeces, its body is beautiful. 

(Above beetle photos were taken on April 1st, 2024)