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Walking in Nature
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2010/06/20
Hydrangea
Hydrangea is a genus of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia. The flowers are white, blue, red, pink, and light/dark purple. When Hydrangea starts to bloom in June, Japanese people think that "Tsuyu"(the rainy season) is coming soon.
Today I visited Gokuraku-ji which is known more as "Ajisai Dera (Hydrangea temple)" in Mori-machi, Shizuoka Prefecture. The temple garden was really beautiful with full-blooming Ajisai flowers. Despite of the rain, a lot of people were there and enjoyed taking photos of the flowers.
Pigments in plants
The most important molecules for plant coloration are the pigment. Plant pigments include a variety of molecules such as carotenoids, porphyrins, anthocyanins and betalains. Those pigments selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light. We can see the color at the rest of other wavelength which reflect/transmit from the pigment. Chlorophyll is a porphyrin that absorbs blue and yellow region of light while reflecting/transmitting green. The energy of light absorbed by chlorophyll is used to power chemical reactions in the chloroplast. The original role of the pigments in a flower may serve to attract pollinators, and the flower colors also attract us. Colors of Hydrangea depend on many different factors like the pH of the soil, aluminum ions and days of blooming.
（Taka）
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