floralfumofridays

[floralfumofridays]

Floral Fumo Double Feature of the Week Second Part Hallow's Day/Hallowmas/Samhain Edition: Low Smartweed/Dog Smartweed (Persicaria longiseta)

So this is the next day, for Fumo Fridays because it lands on a friday and is also a holiday. This first picture does not have the plant I want to show but is made to follow along for story purposes. This tree is a Norway Maple that was shown before. Click here for Part 1

Yuuka noticed that the youkai carrying baskets were in groups, and remembered how Marisa was able to defeat her so easily, so she tries to search for an easy target. She finds a lone and innocent looking youkai in gaudy clothing sleeping on a tree. Yuuka thought of the youkai as weak, so she decided to attack with her giant spark spell at the poor sleeping youkai. After Yuuka attacked, she noticed that her attack didn't even work. The sleeping youkai surely would have woken up, but it never affected her. Yuuka tried to shoot simple bullets at the sleeping youkai, but then she found a gap that was taking in all of the bullets. She tried multiple times to shoot danmaku at the poor sleeping youkai, but gaps would instantly open just to take the bullets then immediately closed as if nothing had ever happened.

Yuuka tried one more trick: She took one big swing of her umbrella at the sleeping youkai's head, but then she woke up! "Oh dear, I wonder what's with all of the noise?" said the sleeping youkai. As the umbrella was about to hit, a gap immediately opened in front of the sleeping youkai's face and an arm quickly emerged to grab the umbrella. Yuuka became terrified, "My umbrella!" "Don't you know it isn't nice to attack a fellow youkai? Have some manners!" The youkai continued, "Hmm, it doesn't look like you're in no position to be attacking youkai. Maybe I should have picked more carefully which youkai come into the Outside during this time, I guess I'll escort you back... Although I'm supposed to be hibernating right now."

A gap had taken the two back to a much more familiar place. A swampy area in Gensokyo.

"Just what was that all about anyways? Why was I in the Outside? Outsiders don't fear youkai like me anymore," Yuuka questioned her. "Now now, it was just a mistake. I didn't understand that you are fading. Belief and fears in youkai are accelerated during this season in the outside to the point where it becomes much safer for youkai to tour, so I simply bring in many random youkai to participate in the "harvest" around the Outside for a while. I didn't understand your situation so well though," the youkai answered. "Fading? I'm fading?" Yuuka became worried. "Pardon me, I'm Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai Sage. Although I'm hibernating right now like the other sages. It seems a number of youkai are weakening recently. Perhaps I should have Ran investigate for me." "Yuuka Kazami, I've never met you personally before. I just made my own world because not even Gensokyo suited me, but then they kicked me out." Yuuka sighed. "I see, sorry about that. I do not think yours to be an original incident, the number of humans in Gensokyo have dwindled, it's threatening the balance of the world as we know it. Since I am hibernating, I will have my shikigami handle these matters for me," Yukari continued, "In the meantime, you don't look so well. Maybe you should mind your manners and focus more on attacking humans more instead of attacking anyone that you please, though. Especially a youkai in such a dying state as yourself." Yuuka sulked, "Well, where I landed there were only other youkai around. So I thought humans were no more." Yukari giggled, "Oh... You didn't mistake humans dressing in costumes as youkai? Let me explain: It's a western tradition on the Outside for humans to dress up as youkai in hopes that youkai won't attack them! Although, the tradition has spread to Japan in recent years, too. Surely, a youkai as old as you would know of it, right?" Yuuka thought about it for a moment, and became flustered. She flew away out of embarassment

Yuuka was relieved for a moment that her feeling so weak and fading was not her own individual issue, but a larger issue affecting Gensokyo. For a long while after she started her plot to change her "nature," she felt alive, she was in her own fantasy as if there was nothing to stop her. The reality was that she was fading, dying. Surely, hopefully, it has to do with this particular incident occurring within Gensokyo, and not her own plans.

Hallow's day(originally Samhain in Gaelic, pronounced sauin, means summer's end) was originally an Irish-Scots (it was both) holiday about liminality, the many interpretations which were passed through mostly oral tongue is that the boundaries between reality and fantasy that were said weaken through "gaps"/portals to allow supernaturals to travel from the illusion world to the reality, and they would play pranks on humans on this day. To prevent supernaturals from attacking, humans would dress up as the supernaturals themselves. Another more familiar interpretation it was also celebrated at the boundaries between summer and winter (autumn), light and darkness, life and death. so it would be ghosts that would enter and pull pranks. A necrofantasia if you will.

Only the eve is celebrated nowadays instead of the actual day, and thus, Halloween which is a mashup word of Hallow's eve. Because there are many interpretations to the festival because it was mostly passed through oral tongue and tradition, everyone has their own "truth" or their own "world" of celebrating. Also I am a bit late for this one.

The first photo is the Norway Maple, but I already talked about that one. The flowers in the second photo are the Low Smartweed or Dog Smartweed. The name of the genus is a bit hard to explain: Persica is the latin name for peach, but that word was named after the Persian Empire/Persia (Iran) long ago. Persica is often given to a scientific species names that are native to Iran and other surrounding areas (like Syringa persica, Persian Lilac). Persicaria as in the genus of flowers refers to the flowers mostly being pink like a peach, but there are still many that coincidentally bloom in Iran, too.

This flower is native to most of Asia. It is oftentimes confused with the more popular Lady's Thumb(Persicaria maculosa), another plant with a much larger native range, and american persicarias. All persicarias have a characteristic of appearing in swampy areas, and is considered a weed by many. The difference between them is easier to find not by its flowers, but by the leaves (A lady's thumb is smaller and has a spot in the middle of mostly each leaf, while a low smart weed gradually grows dark) and the stringlike parts of the branches. Many persicarias are sometimes foraged and have different flavors, but they tend to be peppery and spicy like a cayenne pepper.

Persicarias are a fragile annual plant that does not last long but spreads quickly. It gives one final cluster of blooms before winter, before its eventual and quick death. Although Dog smartweed is invasive to the Americas like the Norway Maple, and considered a "pest" even in places that it's native to. Unlike the Norway Maple, it is much easier to remove and kill. There are persicarias all around the world, and many nonnative ones in one place are lookalikes to native ones in another. If you can identify them as native to your area then it is best to leave them alone.

The Norway Maple looks like it's dying because of the leaves falling, but it's a perennial plant that is very sturdy and lives, and the tree will grow new ones. The Low smartweed looks like it's living because it blooms flowers, but it's fragile, at its final breath and will eventually die.

Also this post was made so late there are only a few hours until Nov 1st is dead everywhere in the world.

Persicaria... and fumos are a type of doll... Hmm....

[floralfumofridays]

Floral Fumo Double Feature of the Week Halloween Edition (There are two parts the next is tomorrow): Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)

Tonight is Halloween, which is a mashup name for Hallow's Eve, but its also on a Thursday which is not a Friday but the day before Friday. Technically, Halloween, Oct 31st is the eve while Nov 1st is the actual day. Nonetheless, both are celebrated equally as connected holidays together. So this week will have two posts. Click here for Part 2

Yuuka herself has already found herself in a place that clearly wasn't Gensokyo. She knew it to be the Outside World, but didn't understand why she is here or why she is able to live when outsiders no longer believed nor feared in youkai like her. She has however seen plenty of other youkai with baskets, but no humans were to be found. Have youkai and vengeful ghosts won their grudges against humanity and surpassed its existence?

It didn't matter to her though. Even if all there were was youkai in the world, Yuuka would always find ways to prank anyone, it's her way of living.

This is the Norway Maple (Acer platanoides). Fitting for its stage name, its native to Norway, but it is also native to a good chunk of the rest of Europe and its range even extending to Central Asia. They are noted in the Fall by their brightly yellow and large leaves. This tree continues to live on, even through the hottest hots and the coldest colds, through air pollution to even growing in partial sunlight.

Unfortunately, because the tree is able to live in harsh conditions, it has become invasive to North America where it competes for terrain with other maples that are native. Once it has grown old enough, it becomes a very hard task to get rid of through its strong sturdy roots and keeps living through improper removal.

Unlike native North American maples, the tree's sap doesn't yield sap worthy of making with maple syrup, and it is much more difficult to work with when maple syrup making. The maple tree most associated with maple syrup is the Sugar Maple(Acer saccharum) which is not pictured and has a far higher harvest yield than the Norway Maple.

[floralfumofridays]

Floral Fumo Friday of the Week: Wood Decay Fungi

AS A DISCLAIMER DON'T EAT RANDOM MUSHROOMS FROM THE WILD WITHOUT EXPERIENCE!!

I wanted to post this for Mushroom Day, but it took me forever to find mushrooms.

Yuuka tries to look for more ways to change her "nature" as a youkai. She ponders and walks along a tree branch, but then encounters Marisa Kirisame. She asks Marisa what humans find about plants that are scary, but Marisa tells her that she's "in her way." Marisa engages in a danmaku battle with Yuuka, and defeats her quite easily, albeit too easily. She questions on why Yuuka has downgraded from final boss to just a simple midboss. Yuuka explains once more that she is trying to change her "nature" and wants to become a youkai of flowers.

Marisa tells her that nobody finds flowers as scary, she points to the mushrooms feeding on dead tree branches. "Flowers don't really bloom during fall or winter, and no human finds flowers to be scary. If you want to change your nature, then why not become a youkai of mushrooms? They live in caves, like you! And these ones feed on the corpses of plants, that's something people find scary," Marisa said. Yuuka insists that mushrooms are still something associated with darkness, and that there must be something that humans find frightening about flowers.

Marisa questions her, "If you're a youkai of darkness, then why are your attacks based on light? You could even transform into a ball of light, too you know." Yuuka explains that she was manifested from human fears of the illusion of "light" inside a dark cave. Yuuka tells her that she has been that way for so long, that she has become bored of doing so. Marisa tells her that it's fall, almost winter, and there aren't really any flowers that bloom right now. She tries to convince Yuuka that maybe she might find fears by being a youkai of all florals. Yuuka thinks about it more, and flies off very slowly.

She still thinks about humans not finding flowers and plants to be scary and frightening. She sees the Sun burning her skin, and becomes saddened that she hasn't changed, she still cannot bask in the Sun like plants, and finds shade under trees whose leaves are falling apart. She takes note to bring a parasol next time.

Humans used to think of fungi and multicellular protists as plants long ago, but even those of Gensokyo can differentiate between plants, protists, and fungi. They are however, all still called "flora" to this day. END OF STORY Afterward: I believe, the mushrooms shown are young forms of stereum. There are many species of them, and some are debatably separated into their own species. They are all under an umbrella term called Wood Decay Fungi, which are scavengers of trees. All stereums are poisonous to humans. Most Wood Decay Fungi attack plants when they are alive and act as a pathogen to them, and a pest to gardeners. Some Wood Decay Fungi are terminal to the plant and eventually lead to the death of the plant.

This link below is one of many Wood Decay Fungi.

Although, Wood Decay Fungi prey on trees, it is not without reason. These plant pathogens are just as important as trees in the laws of nature. They revert them to fertile soils with lots of nutrition so more plants can grow in the future.

[floralfumofridays]

Floral Fumo Friday of the Week: Blue Wood Aster(Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Yuuka is very sleepy and slow at moving so she is always late! But Friday is still happening somewhere in the world so this is the one proper Floral Fumo Friday for now. I've actually noticed that some bees are accidentally photobombed in the photos I've taken too.

This week's flora is Blue Wood Aster aka Heartleaf Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)! As you can guess by its name or maybe how similar it looks, it's a member of the same flower as sunflowers and the goldenrods of a previous post, the Aster family, starflower family or Asteraceae. This flower is very fragrant, and while the flower disc only appears in shades of blue to white, flower clusters in the middle of the disc go from yellow to purple over time.

The word "aster" means star, flowers and other flora are like stars of the earth. Like the sun seen in the day and some other stars seen in the night sky are one star, some flowers are simply just one flower. Other stars appear to be one star but are actually a cluster of many different stars. Flowers in the Aster family are similar where a flower looks like simply one single flower but it is actually a cluster of tinier flowers at the center, and the petals outside of the cluster is a disc. This makes them extremely popular to pollinators who are preparing for winter, because more flowers means more nectars to collect from.

Reimu and Marisa are here to investigate strange flowers appearing around the shrine. They find none other than the terrible, fearsome youkai, Yuuka Kazami, around said flowers. Reimu becomes suspicious because she has caused an incident before, then Yuuka tells Reimu that she doesn't want to fight today. She explains to Reimu and Marisa that she wants to change the nature of herself as a youkai, because she has seen humans, animals, and flowers today change their own nature from what they were when she was still young. She wants to grow and change from being a youkai that lives in darkness to a youkai of flowers and nature. Reimu and Marisa note that she is not using her parasol and see some marks on her face, but Yuuka quickly brushes it off.

Marisa questions where the flowers are from, Yuuka says that she has never seen them before, either, but they look like the flowers of the garden that she has moved into. She tells both Reimu and Marisa, "You may not understand yet, or maybe nobody has told you yet, but the world we're in right now is a closed space from the rest of the world separated by a barrier, and things that are lost and forgotten end up here. Of course, the Hakurei Shrine, the abandoned village filled with cats, my old home, and these flowers are on that same barrier."

She explains that after she caused an incident before and lost, the residents of Mugenkan thought of Yuuka as being too polite to humans by letting Reimu and Marisa run amok in the mansion and going too easy on them. They thought that she became too old to do her job as Headmistress even though she claims that being 4987 years old is not that old. She tells Reimu that she has found a new home in Gensokyo, and has merged the Fantasy World and Mugenkan with a world created by two twin demons, then gave the mansion and its region of the now-merged world up to them.

She looks at a bee and says that the Queen Bees have it more crueler. The Queen is not actually the ruler, if the queen grows older and doesn't do her job, the Hive kills her and replaces her with a new one. To Yuuka, she had it much easier and just gave her Mugenkan away. Reimu and Marisa both become startled by her words, but she tells them that bees have much more mortal lives than humans. Their drive is to make sure their hive lives on to create new bees, so flowers of a plant, some also just as mortal as a bee, can be pollinated. There are many tiny beasts like honeybees, and almost every flower needs them to grow even more flowers; she tells Reimu and Marisa that they would never experience the joy of sweet fruits like apples or cherries if it wasn't for those tiny beasts and their hard work.

Reimu and Marisa afterwards say that she talks too much, and both proceed to fight her and kick her out of the area by the Hakurei Shrine.

By the way, the honeybee (Apis mellifera) in the second pic is a photobomb. I didn't even notice her there when I originally took it, so I made a story about it.

[floralfumofridays]

Floral Fumo of the Week: Canadian Goldenrod(Soldago canadensis) [Also Happy Fall]!

(i took this picture a few days ago and i know its not friday but its fall equinox so) Today is the first day of fall, which means that there is an equal amount of daylight and nighttime today These florals for the week are Canadian goldenrod (Soldago canadensis). They are flowers that bloom during fall, and they attract lots of pollinators like butterflies and bees. This is one of the last flowers to bloom for bees to collect nectar for the hive to prepare to live on and huddle together for winter.

The name of the species is obvious that they're native to (mostly) Canada. Despite having "sol" in the name, the genus name "solidago" isn't named after the sun, but these flowers are part of the same family as sunflowers (asteraceae) which Yuuka Kazami is known for. Instead, they are named after a fusion word from solidus/solida(means solid/whole/true/strength)and the -ago suffix makes it "to drive/become" so solidago means "to become whole/true/stronger" because it was once used as medicine centuries ago.

Like how one sunflower is actually a cluster of smaller flowers (florets) called pseudanthium, one closer look at a single "flower" on any branch and you can see that those are a cluster of even tinier flowers.

Also I have one more non-fumo related thing to show:

I quickly found and took a picture of a butterfly while i was trying to take a picture of Yuuka. It blends easily but it's called great spangled fritillary(argynnis/speyria cybele). The genus name is often disputed, sometimes it is called argynnis with speyria being classed as a subgenus, and some consider speyria to be its own genus separate from argynnis. The species is named after Cybele("Mother Nature") that was worshipped for so long at the city of catalhoyuk in what is now Turkey that most information of her is lost. A lot of butterflies tend to be named after gods like this.

[floralfumofridays]

Pinned Post

This account is made to post fumos with plants and sometimes others. It's inspired by other accounts. It's not going to be consistent, so click on the blog and follow the archives for hashtags to find specific posts. I also have another account on bluesky. I will post a demonstration of the types of posts you will find in this account. Posts on friday will be tagged with "#floral fumo fridays" while posts that take place any other days, like this one, will be tagged "#floral fumo flutters" I will use other tags relating to touhous and other characters used but it will mostly be Yuuka Kazami from Touhou Project.

This is a Red Maple Tree(Acer rubrum), there are other plants around, but they are not the focus right now. It is known for its leaves turning a vibrant red color in the fall, hence its name. It also blooms tiny red flowers in the late winter to spring, too. It has sap that is used to create maple syrup, but it is in little amounts compared to the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum). The latter is better at the job for syrup making. Maple syrup making tends to be a laborious task either way. Click this for more info about Red Maple Trees