MOKKUREN (MAGNOLIA)
“Nikko” means “sunny splendor,” and its beauties are celebrated in poetry and art all over Japan. Mountains for a great part of the year clothed or patched with snow; ravines and passes scarcely explored; a gorgeousness of azaleas and magnolias; and a luxuriousness of vegetation perhaps unequaled in Japan are only a few of the attractions that surround the shrines of the two greatest shoguns.
From “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” by Isabella Bird (1831-1904) (Virago Press) |
Magnolias were among the earliest flowering plants to appear on Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago. When great ice sheets covered much of the Northern Hemisphere, more than 2 million years ago, magnolias survived in the warmer forests of Asia and America. Their scent still attracts beetles and bees that crash-land on the large, simple flowers and tumble into the inner circle of stamens. The species pictured is the fragrant lily-flowered magnolia ( M. liliiflora ), which is purple on the outside and pale pink on the inside. A native of China, this species was probably introduced to Japan in the seventh century, along with the white flowering haku-mokuren ( M. denudata ). Later, in 1790, a British plant collector, the Duke of Portland, brought the purple magnolias to Europe.
By Linda Inoki