Parasitic Plants

Underneath the green, down in the tangle of roots, poking up from the mud dwell Yakushima's uncelebrated parasitic plants.

The dark side, if you will, to all the sun-loving trees and moss and ferns.

They're easy to recognize as plants that just don't look quite right, like secrets biology teachers might have hidden in their closets.

Here are several:

In late spring and early summer the ginrousou (Monotropastrum humile) appear. The Japanese kanji (銀竜草) means silver dragon weed:

They are followed by yakkosou (Mitrastema), which remind me a bit of miniature Humpty-Dumpties or worts when they first pop out of the earth:

(photo by Watase)

In the fall, the tsuchi-torimochi (Balanophora) stand out like really, really sore thumbs:

There's more. Just so we don't get the idea that all is harmonious coexistence in Yakushima, there are some plants that take from others.

Tide pools at Haruta-Hama

  

  I like to jog down to where the long waves try to drag the island into the sea,

      pretend that this is the edge of the universe.

  But every time I look down,

      trying to dodge mollusks and hermit crabs,

  I am greeted by a myriad of miniture worlds:

      Born when the tide goes out. . .

      Released into the ocean when the tide comes in. . .

      Many the size of a tea cup.

     

       

 

Foot bath at Sakurajima

I've come 12,540 km.

There's only 136 km left before I reach Yakushima.

But first, it's time for a visit to Sakurajima, the active volcano in Kagoshima Bay,
to sit by the the public foot bath
and let my feet out of these stuffy shoes!

Yakushima Life Homepage

Just more maintenance as I mark off the days before I'm back in Yakushima. I've uploaded a homepage (www.yakushimalife.com) and an interactive weather applet in the meantime, and hopefullly I'll be adding more as I go. As far as this blog goes, I'll be using it to introduce all the little places I've taken an interest in around the island. Not a guide, but a collection of moments.