A lovely Japanese endemic flower that takes five years to bloom

I'd like to talk about a lovely flower that blooms in early spring but seems to be endangered species. It's called the Setsubun-sou (winter-aconite, Eranthis pinnatifida) and is one of the "spring fairies".

Setsubun-sou is a perennial plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family and is endemic species to Japan, which blooms in early spring and is characterized by its white flowers and yellow nectaries.

As its name suggests, Setsubun-sou is named because it blooms around the time of Setsubun (early February), a traditional Japanese event.

Setsubun-sou takes 4 or 5 years from seed germination to flowering. It is said this is because, in early spring, before other weeds flourish, Setsubun-sou grows up and store nutrients for only several weeks, then wither, spending the rest of the year dormant. Therefore, it takes 4 or 5 years for them to store enough nutrients to flower.

 

After the flowers finished, the pods have swollen.

Swollen pods of Setsubun-sou

The seeds of Setsubun-sou remain in the burst pods.

The seed pod burst open, and the scattered seeds happened to land on the leaves of the surrounding weeds.