Thursday, October 21, 2010

Heaven on earth: beautiful flower festival in Hitachi Kaihin Park, Japan (17 photos)

Over 4.5 million blue nemophilas were blossoming over the hill "Miharashi No Oka" during "Nemophila Harmony" flower festival in Japanese Hitachi Seaside Park, Ibaraki.





Nemophila is a genus found in the flowering plant family Hydrophyllaceae.
Most of the species in Nemophila contain the phrase "baby blue-eyes" in their common names. N. menziesii has the common name of "Baby blue-eyes".


Nemophila menziesii, the Baby blue eyes is a common annual herb of California, Oregon, and Baja California. It is a spring-blooming wildflower that gets its name from the bright blue flowers of two of the three varieties that are recognised. It is also cultivated in gardens. It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an introduced species, in Alaska, for example.
Nemophila menziesii, the Baby blue eyes grows virtually throughout California at heights from sea level up to almost 6500 feet (2000 metres). It grows in many types of habitat.
The plant is variable in appearance. The leaves are lobed and oppositely arranged. The flowers are blue or white.
Etymology: Nemophila means “woodland-loving.” It comes from the Latin word nemus, which means "grove" and the Greek word philos, which means "loving".

Info: Wiki