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Napoleonite produced in Ono City, Fukui Prefecture


Size: width 85 cm, depth 40 cm, height 55 cm
The big Napoleonite was exhibited in the lobby of Ono City Hall. It was found in Managawa River in 1965, and the discoverer donated it to the city last year. Currently, it is on display at Ono City History Museum.

 

At any rate, the patterns look unique. I looked at the stone for the first time when I visited the city hall in March this year (2019) and thought it was a fossil of an ancient organism like Fusulina or Trilobite. But in fact, the patterns with circles are the mineral crystals grew in magma. Such a big Napoleonite seems quite unusual.

 

The stone's official name is spherical diorite and it is designated as a natural monument of Ono City as "Napoleon Stone". The name comes from the fact that Corsica, in which Napoleon was born, is a good producer of the stones. And, Shimowakago district (upstream site of the Managawa River) in Ono City is one of the only four production areas of the stones in Japan.
T.S

Impressions when I visited a site there was an abandoned building to take photographs by a drone


Traces of elementary particles
I associated a photograph of elementary particles in an accelerator experiment with the curves drawn by the ears of the dead silver grasses that emerged on the dark background.

 


Green monster
I thought it was a chimney covered with ivy from the distance, but it was a utility pole. In time, the ivy may extend laterally along the wire.

 


The only flower in the world
The purple orchids bloomed around the building were beautiful. Various flowers bloom in this way around us. By the way, I just don't like the Japanese popular song "The Only Flower in the World". Because the lyrics say that ”flowers in a flower shop never compete, by contrast, many people always compare themselves to others”, but that's not true. They are the only flowers that have won fierce competitions to be chosen as merchandise.
T.S

A lot of Katakuri flowers were in bloom on the top of Mt. Kyogatake


The Katakuri (Dogtooth violet) flowers that grow on the top of Mt.Kyogatake. 

 

On May 11th (2019), I found a lot of Katakuri flowers blooming on the top of Mt. Kyogatake (1,625 meters) in Ono City, Fukui Prefecture. Although I didn’t aim for the time of bloom, it seems that it was just the right time.

 

Many other flowers were also blooming along the mountain trail, but it's too bad that many of them were unknown to me. So I would like to know more about animals and plants in mountains.
T.S

 


Iwanashi flowers that I found on the mountain trail. Their berries taste like pears.

 


Iwauchiwa flowers were blooming quite a lot. They are similar to Iwakagami ones but the shape of leaves is different.

 


Mt. Hakusan looked close from the top of Mt. Kyogatake.

 

Flowers I found in autumn fields


Dayflowers, its Japanese name means "Grass of morning dew"

 

 
Yesterday, I went to Karigahara ski site in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture to practice drone.
And to my surprise, I found various flowers among weeds there even in this season. I thought how beautiful they were. White and yellow small butterflies were flying around the yellow and blue purple flowers.

 

As it is said that "There is no plant named weed.", I changed the way I look the landscape only by knowing the names of plants. It's embarrassing that I don't know names of wild plants even though I often go mountain climbing. 

 

Now I want to learn them even little by little.
TS


Hogweed

 


Yellow foxtail shining under the morning sun

 


Yellow flowers whose name I don't know

Ladies' tresses blooming over the grass yard of Starland Sakadani (Ono City, Fukui Prefecture)


I was not able to focus precisely on ladies' tresses flower with a smartphone.

 

Of course, Starland Sakadani is famous for sunflower fields at this time, but yesterday I was also attracted to the ladies' tresses blooming all over the grass yard.
Unlike sunflowers, this flower is treated as weeds, but it also tells steadily of the arrival of summer.
It's attractive to watch carefully the adorable color and its geometric spiral shape.
Incidentally, in Japanese, this flower is called "Nejibana" (spiral flower).
T.S

 


Starland Sakadani in full view
A lot of ladies' tresses were in bloom in the central square.
At the bottom of the photo is a sunflower field.

 


Of course, sunflowers are also in full bloom.

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