The Washington herald., 1909-10-24
MEANING OF THE wISrAR1A.
Japanese Consider Its Purple Bios
som the Ideal OF Women.

sum AMN AuNNA Va " SRNns
From the Los Angeles Times
The wistaria. the last floral beauty OF
the Nipponese spring, IS classical II
endeared itself and was sung already in
the Nara period eighth century,. and
the court ladies Of Kioto in the ninth
century. who made the Nlpponese Htera-
ture Of the Heiau era, refined. pleasure
loving and, OF course, feminine. found
In the wistaria their ideal OF the Nip
ponese woman, whose charm IN tempera-
ment and beauty has been universally
praised
The purple OF the wistaria IS the Nip
ponese woman's beloved color They
wear II extensively. The woman's okoso
zuken' or hood, is largely OF the wistaria
purple II suggests 70 the Nipponese
MIND the Intensity Of heart and love.
The dokku poet, Kyoroku. commented on
the wistaria as a flower of enthusiasm.
In Nippon the wistaria IS the only flower
"hlch loves the Nipponese sake. II you
get a jar OF wine under the nower. its
sprays Will grow longer from IT'S desire
70 reach the jar.
Inc wistaria at Kameldo. the temple
garden famous for II on the outskirts Of
~r-Ns - "ffNo az kAF0A size ana beauty.
* Is believed. 10 the fact that its roots
are nOurished with the rice wine OF the
country by visitors, who are accustomed
10 empty their sake cups at It's base In
this temple garden are quaint rustic tea
houses that extend over Gueer-shaped
ponds stocked with huge goldfish. When
the wistaria is IN bloom the water IS
swept by vast feathery racemes OF deli
cate hlac-cOl0red blossoms three or four
feet long. odorous Of honey and buzzing
with bees
Another famous wistaria Of Nippon IS
TO be found at Kashukabe. northeast OF
Tokyo The vine Is so years old. and
grows over trelIised covering a space OF
1900 feet. Its pendent clusters are more
than fifty inches long Noda. OF the
province OF Settsu. Is well known FOR wis
taria. and there Is a species called Noda
no Full. after the name OF the place
The most famous wlstarIa there is named
chitose, or tree Of a thousand years II
IS a custom Of somewhat modern origin
20 make much Of wistaria viewing, asso-
ciated with sake drinking and merry
making. For this purpose wistarla are
arranged 10 cover long walks, bridges.
or arbors IN tea and temple gardens.
The tender leaves OF the wistaria are
good 70 eat. They are also used IN place
Of Tea. and the flowers themselves are
used for food In China. II the seed Of
the wistaria is baked its taste IS lltened
20 that OF chestnut The bark Is used
IN Nippon for making clothes. ropes. and
sandals. It's branches are used as cable.
and are also fl for bridge making Ii is
said there IS nothing more durable than
a wistaria bridge. Nlpponese antiquarians
tell how IN early times. before carpenter
tools had been invented. the dwellings
OF the people in Nippon were constructed
OF young trees with bark on. fastened
together with ropes made OF rush suge.
or perhaps with the tough shoots OF wis
taria, and matched with the grass called
kaya. I believe that the wistaria is a
true Nipponese flower. although It bears
In the Western countries such a name
in honor Of Caspar Wistar. the American
physician.
one OF the greatest Nipponese families
bears the name Futiwara, or Wistaria
Field II was BY the Emperor Tent
Seventh century, that Nakatorni no Ka-
matari was authorized 20 assume that
family name and created nai-daijin (prf-
vate minister. This family stlu prospers
keeping in close touch with the imperial
family OF Nippon The wistaria IS It's
co2t-of-arms- Besides the Fujiwara fam
ily, there are many other families who
take II as their hereditary crest.
The NippOnese are sensitive and SYN
bohc In their sUperstitions and rules
governing the use OF flowers. These
supersutions and rules are many and
varied. To use a flower out OF season,
or one Inappropriate 20 the occasion,
would be considered extremely vulgar In
Nippon. In fact, some rule. IN itself q
superstition, would be applied in such a
way as 20 make the act a sacrilege. For
the purpose OF rejecting and prohibiting
the use Of certain flowers for special oc-
casions OF ceremony or congratulations,
there is long list OF rules zone might
call them traditions, sUperstiuons) that
no one. not even a NippOnese ic0noclast.
would think of disregarding.