I still remember the shock of finding Sankayo flowers in Daisen, which I visit in spring, summer, autumn and winter.  After the opening of the mountain in June, small translucent flowers are blooming between large butterbur-like leaves at a distance from the mountain road where the rainy season is frequent.  As I get absorbed in taking pictures, it becomes more and more transparent.  It’s mysterious.  When I got home and checked it immediately, it was Sankayo.  Sankayo is a wild grass with a plant height of 50 to 70 cm, which blooms from May to July and is distributed from north of central Honshu to Hokkaido and Sakhalin.  It is a small flower of about 2 cm and is usually pure white, but it gradually becomes transparent when it is hit by rain for a long time.  The life of the flower is about one week, it is vulnerable to impact, and it will not become transparent unless it is hit by rain for a long time, so it seems that it is quite difficult to see transparent flowers in good condition.  It’s a quiet boom on SNS now.  The principle of becoming transparent is the same as when frosted glass gets wet, it becomes transparent, and when white underwear gets wet, the skin can be seen through.  By the way, it is called a skeleton flower in English.

春夏秋冬訪れる大山でサンカヨウを見つけた時の衝撃は今でもはっきり覚えています。６月の山開きが終わった後、梅雨の雨が降り頻る山道を少し離れた所に蕗のような大きな葉に挟まれて半透明の小さな花が咲いています。夢中になって写真を撮り続けているとますます透明になっていきます。神秘的です。帰宅して早速調べたらサンカヨウでした。サンカヨウは草丈は50～70cm、５月から７月にかけて咲き、本州中部以北から北海道、サハリンに分布する山野草です。２cm位の小さな花で、普段は真っ白ですが、長く雨に打たれていると徐々に透明になります。花の寿命は一週間位で、衝撃にも弱く、長時間の雨に打たれなければ透明にならないので、良い状態で透明の花を見るのはなかなか難しいそうです。それが今、SNSでは静かなブームになっているとか。透明になる原理は、すりガラスに水がかかると透明になったり、白い下着が水に濡れると肌が透けて見えるのと同じ理由です。ちなみに、英語ではスケルトン・フラワーと言います。