SATOYAMA in Takatsuki (UTSUGI, YABUKOJI, KONASUBI)

Today, I walked around SATOYAMA in Takatsuki, north of Osaka Pref., two hours far by car from my house in Takarazuka, southeast of Hyogo Pref.

You may think there is nothing special to see in this season in such a field. But I dear say you must find some interesting thing.s.

First, dried berries of UTSUGI (means empty tree, Japanese snowflower). Sunshine is necessary for such a photo.    

Next, I found berries of YABUKOJI (means ..., sorry, difficult to explain, coral ardisia). The small read berries can be found easily in rice fields where almost grasses are cut off by a farmer in winter. 

 That must be a small dried AKINO-KIRINSO (means yellow-ring flower in fall, goldenrod).

This red small leaves are KONASUBI (means small eggplant, moneywort?). KONASUBI bears winter season turn in read.

I spent for watching and taking photos near an hour. It has not been so cold with soft sunshine today. I have enjoyed a small hike with a camera.

SATOYAMA sights in winter - KARASU-URI and HIGAN-BANA

I would like to start my blog from several plants which can be seen in SATOYAMA (Japanese traditional countryside such as rice fields with woods)  in winter.

I come home town in every new year holidays. My home town where I spend boyhood years is SATOYAMA. There are many kind of wild plants around my house.
I can find a few kind of wild berry even if winter. This time I found KARASU-URI (means crow melon, one of wild melon) which is fully ripe and turned red. Some of them are eaten by something (crow? monkey?). Just one berry is hang down in a branch.  

I walked around rice fields more.
There are so many leaves of HIGAN-BANA (means equinoctial week flower, red spider lily) over stonewall banks of rice fields.

The flower of HIGAN-BANA is like this;

 
It blooms in just equinoctial week. Almost rice fields in Japan are colored in red by HIGAN-ANA in that season. But leaves of the flower are extended only in winter for saving energy to bloom.