Picture 3   An Asagimadara sucking nectar.

Tsuwabuki flowers can be seen in Amami for about two months starting in mid-November. Yellow Tsuwabuki flowers, full of rustic beauty,  adorn the roadsides on the low-level grounds as well as on the hills. Honey bees and Asagimadara butterflies are often seen sucking nectar from the flowers.

Young Tsuwabuki stems are edible. People boil them, peel the thin skin and remove the elements that cause strong taste in water for hours. They are cooked together with pig bones like spareribs, seasoned with miso and a sweet sake called “mirin”. Other foodstuffs like Shiitake mashrooms and Daikon radish can be added. This dish is often served on New Year’s Eve.

One year ago, when I was taking pictures of Tsuwabuki flowers in a private miniature botanical garden on a hillside in Tatsugo-cho, a flock of young free-range turkeys appeared from nowhere, perhaps in anticipation of getting food from me. Picture 4 is a snapshot of the turkeys.