When you’re exploring the forests around Mount Fuji it’s important to be aware of the plants around you. Some plants have thorns or are poisonous.
Here are a few common plants that you might encounter in Aokigahara and the surrounding forests.
1. Snake Lily (Mamushigusa)
The Snake Lily (Mamushigusa) gets its name because the pattern on its stem resembles a “mamushi” (Japanese pit viper). In spring and early summer, during its flowering season, it can look like a Pitcher Plant. In autumn, it produces red, corn-like berries. Its unique appearance might make you want to touch it, but be careful, the entire plant is poisonous.
2. Wolf’s Bane/Monkshood (Tori−kabuto)
This plant is recognized by its pretty purple flowers that bloom in autumn. While its roots are highly toxic, the entire plant contains poison, so caution is needed.
3. Japanese Andromeda (Asebi) 馬酔木
You’ll find many Japanese Andromeda plants in the Aokigahara Forest, even though deer are abundant, because deer avoid eating them. The Japanese kanji for Asebi are literally the characters that mean “horse” “drunk” and “tree”. This name comes from the fact that horses become dizzy and stumble if they eat the plant. Its leaves and stems are poisonous.
Plant Survival Strategies
Today, I’d like to share a little about the survival strategy of the Snake Lily (Mamushigusa).
Snake Lilies have both male and female flowers. They rely on small insects like flies to carry their pollen. Both male and female flowers are located inside a unique, hood-shaped leaf structure. Once an insect enters, it cannot easily crawl back out.
However, the male flower has a hard-to-find exit at the bottom. Flies move around, searching for this exit. By the time they find it, their bodies are covered in pollen. They then fly off and enter another Snake Lily. The fly will again search for an exit, but if it’s a female flower, there is no exit. This is how pollination is completed.
While it might seem a bit cruel, this is one of the Snake Lily’s fascinating survival strategies. Observing such things can make walking through the forest even more enjoyable.