Plant paradise: Blue speedwell (inu-fuguri)

Blue speedwell,field speedwell, grey field-speedwell /veronica [might be translated “mongrel speedwell”; inu-fuguri, inu no fuguri Veronica didyma, inufuguri, inu-fuguri,
【いぬふぐり（犬ふぐり）】……　いぬふぐり、いぬのふぐり、犬のふぐり（犬ふぐり） …… オオイヌフグリ
Other names: … Plant like a gourd, hyootan gusa　瓢箪草　ひょうたんぐさ
Veronica didyma, low-growing, four-petalled pale pink to lavender flowers] (early spring).

Springflowers are beginning to pop up marking the seasons of the year. A weed that is seen everwhere on the roadsides and in the fields. One of the earliest spring flowers, speedwell often forms a blue carpet in the empty fields.

Origins: Southeast Asia and Europe. It was introduced to Japan in the early Meiji Period and has naturalized in the local landscape.

陰嚢, fuguri, means the scrotum, testicles. Literally this flower is named “testicles of a dog”, but that has nothing to with the looks of it. The small flowers have four petals and the color gets more intensive toward the outside.