Today I went for a bike ride to Nogi shrine, and unexpectedly got into a “Japanese” conversation with a lovely lady who lived near by.
The result of which was an introduction to Katakuri.. Which is a beautiful; woodland flower that grows wild in the forest here…
What I understood, was you can eat it, and its either long or old… given it is small – I went with old and looked it up .. 🙂
Katakuri in English is known as Trout lily or Dogtooth Violet…
Wiki says:
Erythronium japonicum has a stem up to 20 cm long, although as much as 30% of the stem may be underground. Bulb is elongated, up to 6 cm long but rarely more than 1 cm wide. Laves are broadly elliptical to lanceolate, the blade up to 12 cm long and 7 cm wide. Flowers are solitary.It has a very short season and is slow-growing. It needs to grow into a 7-8 year old plant before it finally blooms
Just Life in Japan 