Flower Photo: Purple Asian Melastoma in Okinawa

These flowers can be tricky when it comes to identification.

Another one gets out of my pending files, today.

A book from the local library, ISBN4-9901917-3-0, deserves all the credit.

You are looking at a Melastoma candidum.

Some folks use them for landscaping or, like their fragrance.

Others, have medicinal uses for them.

Here's what I do.  Shoot photos and save them for a non-shooting day.

Then I use them to drive myself crazy trying to get an ID on them.

There are 50 species of this flower the locals call, Nobotan (のぼたん).

This one was found on the Motobu Peninsula During the month of June 2013.

They grow, in the wild, all over Asia.

But, I guess they got out of control in Hawaii, because over there, they call them weeds !

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Flower Photos: Asian Melastome (のぼたん) Higashi Son Okinawa

Today This Flower Convinced Me

 

There's no way, I'll ever become a plant and flower expert.

Out in the woods, near a riverbed we spotted this single bloom, just after it rained.

So, I told Map It Okinawa "We better shoot this one.  It may be some rare Okinawa orchid."

There are some plants in the Ryukyu Island jungles that have become endangered species.

It's because they are so rare, people steal them to sell.

Some places, they patrol at night to catch the criminals, who probably come from the city.

Don't you wish we could tar and feather them ?

Anyway, after we got out of the woods it was time to see if someone could help ID the plant.

Higashi Village Museum was the place to go.  They have some awesome friendly staff.

When we showed the gal the flower photos, she knew the name, right away.

It isn't an orchid.  It's a Nobotan  (のぼたん) or, Melastome.

That Sort of Busted a Bubble

The plant isn't some exotic, endangered species, near threatened or, anything like that.

The Asian Melastome (Melastoma candidum) grows all over Southeast Asia.

It has many medicinal uses, too.

So, I snoop around the World Wide Web and see what I can find for everyone.

Along came reality.  It smacked me right on the head.

These flowers, I've seen hundreds of them, before and called them Forest Stars !

That does it.  I never wanted to be a flower expert, anyway.

If anyone reading this does, you should checkout FindTheData.  I promised them a link.