On Wednesday, I was riding my bike near my home. I saw this beautiful flowering tree (bush? plant?)
I’d never seen this sort of flower in my area of the U.S. (Kansas, northern Texas)
Please look at the photos below:
These are the buds….
I showed my Friday male Japanese teacher these photos and he told me that these flowers are called Bottlebrush. (Actual name is Callistemon.)
They are NOT native to Japan. They are native to Australia! Imagine that!!!!!! Wow.
So anyway, he checked his dictionary and it said that Callistemon was brought to Japan during the Meiji Period, so basically sometime around the late 1800’s or so. (Meiji Period: 1868-1912)
I thought the flowers were lovely, and now that I know they are originally Australian, I feel like I’ve seen a bit of Australia!
amylangekawamuradotcom 
I have been silent of the Blog side for a few months. What a day to come to life and see this post! Yes, a bottlebrush, a very common and beautiful tree here in Australia. We have a few forms growing well in our yard. They are a great tree for attracting honey eating birds.
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It’s a beautiful plant. I had no idea that it was from Australia. Being from North America, I sometimes see (to me) unusual plants that I’d never seen in the U.S. So I assumed it was one of those & native Japanese. Have a nice day, Tony! Thanks for commenting.
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