I like the name. It is often described as “a flower reminiscent of deep twilight, as the name” Yugiri “means”, but it does not look like Yugiri and does not feel twilight. The delicate florets bloom densely, and you can feel the appearance of the mist-like elegance. Prettyness may have something to do with transient life. As flowers of the bellflower family, if you look up closely, you can see that small flowers like platycodon are densely attached. Many white male flowers protrude from the small flowers, so it looks like fog. The appearance of the haze in the fragility and fog is reminiscent of the “Yugiri” in “Genji Monogatari”, and it seems that it was named “Yugiri-so”. It is said that it originated in Southern Europe and North Africa on the Mediterranean coast and came to Japan at the end of the Taisho era. From early summer to early autumn, the flowers are quaint and refreshing, and they match both Japanese and Western styles.
名前がいいですね。よく「名前の『夕霧』の通り、深い黄昏を思わせる花です」と表されますが、夕霧の様には見えませんし、黄昏も感じません。繊細な小花を密に咲かせ、霧にかすんだような品のあるたたずまいは感じます。可憐さは儚さに通じるものがあるのかもしれません。キキョウ科の花だけあって、アップで見ると小さなキキョウのような花がびっしりついているのがわかります。その小さな花から沢山の白い雄花が突出しているので霧の様には見えます。儚さと霧に霞んで見える姿が『源氏物語』の「夕霧」を連想させ、「夕霧草」と名付けられたように思えます。原産は地中海沿岸の南ヨーロッパや北アフリカなどで日本に来たのは大正時代の末期と言われています。初夏から秋口にかけて趣と清涼感のある花を咲かせ、和風にも洋風にもマッチする花です。