わが国の本州から四国・九州、それに朝鮮半島や中国に分布しています。むかしは丘陵や草原に、ふつうに自生していたといいます。今ではほとんど見られなくなりました。4月から5月ごろ、釣鐘状の花を下向きに咲かせます。花弁のように見えるのは萼片です。果実には白い長い毛があります。和名はこれを翁の頭に見立てたことから。中国名では「朝鮮白頭翁(chao xian bai tou weng)」と呼ばれます。
韓国語では「ハルミッコッ(할미꽃)」です。これは「おばあさん(ハルミ: 할미)」+「花(コッ: 꽃)」の合成語です。花が咲いた後の白い綿毛や茎が折れ曲がることが老女を連想させることに由来しています。
The "Okina-gusa" (Pulsatilla cernua) belongs to Ranunculaceae (the Buttercup family). It is a perennial herb that is native from Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, as well as the Korean Penninsula and China. This herb was grown commonly in hills and grasslands in former days. Nowadays, it can be almost never found in the wild. The bell-shaped flowers bloom descending from April to May. The corolla has five petaloid sepals. The fruits have white long hairs. The Japanese name is derived from an old man's white hairs. The Japanese name comes from its resemblance to the head of an old man. It is called "朝鮮白頭翁" (chao xian bai tou weng) in Chinese.
In Korean, it's called "hal-mi-kkot" (할미꽃). This is a compound word consisting of "old woman" (hal-mi: 할미) + "flower" (kkot: 꽃). This name comes from the fact that the white, fluffy seeds that appear after the flowers bloom and the bent stems are reminiscent of an old woman.