Primula japonica (クリンソウ)

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There is a small Primula japonica blossoming near a tea room in HOSHINOYA. This flower often lives in fast moving water currents in the mountains. I found the color of this flower very pretty!
Prince japonica is called kurin-sou in Japanese. Kurin (九輪) is one of the parts of a Japanese pagoda. You might have seen a vertical shaft on the top of pagodas. That shaft is called kurin. Japanese people call Primula japonica kurin-sou, because its way of blossoming is quite similar to kurin. Check the second picture. Can you see that it has two-tier flowers?

星のや軽井沢の敷地内にある茶屋の近くには、小さなクリンソウが咲いています！
山地の渓流沿いの湿ったところに生えるお花です。派手なピンクでとても可愛い！『クリンソウ』という名前は、花が輪になって何段にも茎につくさまが、五重塔の頂上につく「九輪」に似ているところから名前がつきました。まだ全ての花は咲いていませんが、2段になっていることが分かりますでしょうか？2枚目の写真ならお分かりいただけるかも！

Chelidonium majus var. asiaticum(クサノオウ)

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Today is a day off! So I went to a bakery near Nakakaruizawa station in the morning. At the bakery, I got a bean-jam bun. While eating, I found this yellow flower blossoming on the side of the road.
It is called kusano-ou in Japanese. It doesn’t have the English name but the academic name of this flower is Chelidonium majus var. asiaticum. This flower belongs to the Papaveraceae family. Many of these flowers which belong to the same family are poisonous. Kusano-ou has the poison as well. But you should know that this flower is often used as a medicine. It can be a good pain reliever!

今日はお休み！駅前で気になっていたパン屋さんであんぱんを買って散歩していたら、たくさんクサノオウが咲いているのを見かけました。
この花はケシの仲間。ケシの仲間は毒をもっていて、クサノオウにも毒があります。でもこのお花は薬用にもなり、鎮痛剤などに利用されているんですよ～！