Micro-Season: “The Crow-dipper Sprouts” (2023)

On July 01 we will enter the micro-season of “The Crow-dipper Sprouts”.  This is the third micro-season of the season Summer Solstice.  The other micro-seasons within Summer Solstice are:

• The Common Self-Heal Dries (Jun 21 – Jun 25)
• The Iris Flowers (Jun 26  -Jun 30)
• The Crow-dipper Sprouts (Jul 1- Jul 6)

These seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. While they are specific to Japan, you can use these seasons as a starting point for exploring the world around you.

To celebrate this season, we will learn about plants in the Araceae family and then read haiku by Basho, Shiki, Buson, Issa, and Reichhold. 

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The Crow-dipper

Crow-dipper is the common name for the plant Pinellia ternata.  The Pinellia ternata is native to China, Japan, and Korea. However, it is found in parts of North America and Europe and is often considered an invasive species.  The Crow-dipper is also called “Green Dragon” and is sometimes confused with the Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

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Pinellia ternata is part of the Araceae family of flowering plants that includes more than 4,000 species in over 140 genera. The Araceae family of plants is also known as the Arum family.

Araceae have flowers on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is an arrangement of tiny flowers that cluster around a stem.  The spadix is usually accompanied by a spathe. The spathe is a leaf-like bract that grows along with and may enclose the spadix. For many plants in the Araceae family, the spathe can also be large and colorful.

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A Few Other Araceaes

In last year’s post, I specifically wrote about Pinellia ternata, its medicinal uses, and its cultural connections. You can read that post here.

This year, I want to look at two other plants that fall within the Araceae family: the Peace Lily (genus Spathiphyllum) and Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) 

Peace Lily 

Peace Lily is a term that is used to describe several species of flowering plants in the genus Spathiphyllum. There are about 47 species in the genus Spathiphyllum.   These perennial plants are native to tropical regions of the Americas and southeastern Asia.⁽⁴⁾ It is important to mention that although the name of this plant is peace lily, it is not a true lily.  True lilies are part of the Liliaceae family of plants, whereas peace lilies are Araceae family.

Peace lilies are common house plants in the United States.  They are considered pretty easy to take care of because they don’t need large amounts of water or light to survive.  They will also let you know when they need water because they will begin to droop.   

Peace lilies are also considered great plants to help clean the air in your house.  It is said that these plants can neutralize toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.⁽⁵⁾

A peace lily will usually produce its spadix and spathe in spring.  Many peace lilies have white spathes, but some may have tints of yellow or green.  A well-cared-for peace lily may bloom again in the fall. 

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Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) 

Titan arum, (Amorphophallus titanum), is also called the corpse flower.  This plant is native to the rainforest of Sumatra but has found its way to botanical gardens across the globe.  This unique plant blooms about every 4 to 10 years (although there have been some exceptions) and creates a flowering spadix that may reach close to 10 feet in height. The spathe, which wraps around the spadix is “green to cream-coloured on the outside with a deep crimson to purple interior.⁽⁶⁾ 

When the plant blooms it has the ability to generate its own heat and produce a smell of rotting meat.  The titan arum uses the combination of smell and heat to attract flesh flies and carrion beetles that help pollinate the plant.  The pollinated flowers then produce bright red or orange fruits that are distributed by birds and other animals. 

The titan arum has a very short bloom which begins in the afternoon.  The flower will stay open all night and the spathe will usually begin to wilt as soon as 12 hours after blooming.

During the titan arum’s dormant years, it produces one leaf and leaf stalk that can be 15-23 feet tall.  The leaf stalk “is speckled with white patches and typically features three branches topped with numerous large leaflets.”  After 12-18 months the leaf will die back and the plant will become dormant again.  It will take several years of this leafing process for the titan arum to store up enough energy to bloom again.

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Seasonal Haiku 

According to the World Kigo Database the “crow-dipper” is a mid-summer plant.  Usually in this section, we would now identify what other plants and flowers are listed as midsummer plants. However, since we focused on flowers last week, I thought that we could use this opportunity to shift things up a bit and explore “midsummer” as a kigo. 

Dr. Greve explains that “midsummer” runs from approximately June 06 to July 06 and includes the summer solstice. Charles Trumbull further explains in a section from A Field Guide to North American Haiku titled “Midsummer Madness”, that “‘midsummer’ is not a specific date but rather a season, or more accurately, a part of a season.”  The part of the larger season that Trumbull is referring to is, of course, the summer season.  

In the 72-season calendar, summer begins on May 5th with the micro-season “The First Frog Calls” in the season of First Summer (May 05-May 20), and then ends on approximately August 6th with the micro-season “Heavy Rain Showers” in the season Major Heat (July 22- Aug 06).

Trumbull then tells us that “Height of Summer” (Seika),  “Midsummer days” (manatsubi), and “Summer is deep” (natsu fukashi) are phrases that reference midsummer. 

“Short nights”, “Dawn hastens”, “Dawn rushes in”, and opposite phrases like “Long days” are also ways to indicate this time of year.  It’s interesting to see how these astronomical and meteorological conditions can also be used as kigo.

Now, with all this information about the midsummer season, let’s read some haiku!

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Basho

Even these long days
are not nearly long enough
for the skylarks to sing 
(translated Sam Hamill)

washing my feet
I fall asleep for the short night
with my clothes on 
(translated by Jane Reichhold) 

Shiki 

The short night;
Lights remaining
 In the harbour.
(translated by R. H. Blyth)

how much remains
of my life
the nights are short
(translated by Shiki-Kinen Museum English Volunteers)

Buson

Brief night!
Atop the caterpillar
a dewdrop
(translated by Janine Beichman)

Jane Reichhold

even shorter
the summer night
with a full moon

Issa

from the treetop
gliding into midsummer...
bright moon
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

becoming demons
becoming Buddhas...
the midsummer clouds
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Translator’s commentary, “In this haiku Issa plays the age-old game of looking for familiar shapes in the clouds. The fact that he sees the “opposites” of demons and Buddhas makes for humor, but also, as so often is the case with Issa, hints at a deeper meaning. Demons and Buddhas arise from the same stuff and both are, essentially, illusions: wisps and billows of steam. Issa’s poetic joke turns out to be one of his most penetrating comments on the nature of reality.” (David G. Lanoue)

And perhaps, just one more haiku by Basho

The wandering crow
finds only plum blossoms
where its nest had been 
(translated by Sam Hamill) 

This haiku is not specifically related to midsummer.  It would actually be an early spring haiku because of the “plum blossoms”.  I included it this week for a quick reference back, even if very indirectly, to where we started with the crow-dipper.  

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Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu that references midsummer in some way.  Think about the longer days, the shorter nights, or the increased heat.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your own page and link back to this post. I can’t wait to read what you write!  

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Thank You!

Resources

1. Andy Senesac, “Weed Of Interest: Crowdipper–If You See It, Don’t Let It Go!”: Cornell.edu
2. “Pinellia ternata”; Wikipedia
3. “Araceae”: Wikipedia
4. “Spathiphyllum”; Wikipedia
5. “How to Grow and Care for Peace Lily Plants”; HGTV.com
6. “titan arum”; Brittanica
7. “Season of Summer”; World Kigo Database
8. Charles Trumbull; “Midsummer Madness”.  A Field Guide to North American Haiku. Retrieved from Frogpond 43_3