えびちゃすみれ (海老茶菫)

Viola mandsurica cv. Ebicha

Viola mandsurica cv. Ebicha

わが国の各地をはじめ、朝鮮半島や中国に分布する「すみれ(菫)」の園芸品種です。大正時代に東京都の大久保で発見されたという記述もありますが、詳細は不明です。基本種との違いは、花の紫色に赤味が強いことです。えび茶色に近いものもあるようですが、紅紫色と思えるものもあります。それ以外に基本種との大きな相違はありません。 
スミレ科スミレ属の多年草で、学名は Viola mandsurica cv. Ebicha。英名はありません。 
"Ebicha-sumire" (Viola mandsurica cv. Ebicha) belongs to Violaceae (the Viola family). It is a perennial herb that is a horticultural variety of the Manchurian violet, which is distributed in various parts of Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and China. There is a description that it was discovered in Okubo, Tokyo in the Taisho era (about 100 years ago), but the details are unknown. The difference from the elementary species is that the purple color of the flower has a strong reddish tinge. Some flowers are almost shrimp-brown, while others seem to be reddish-purple. Other than that, there is no major difference between this species and the elementary species. 
静岡県浜松市村櫛町「浜名湖花博」にて、2004年04月11日撮影。 

Shu Suehiro
shu@botanic.jp