悪茄子(ワルナスビ) horse nettle

　ワルナスビは、長い根茎を持つので駆除しにくい植物です。さらに、鋭い棘や強い毒性があるので、人間に取っては厄介な植物です。
　日本の植物学の父といわれる、牧野富太郎が自宅の庭に植えたところ、駆除が難しいので、ワルナスビと命名したそうです。
　半世紀以上前のことになりますが、この庭に訪れましたが、彼が亡くなって年月が経っていたからか、当時は荒れ果てた草むらでした。

　The Horse nettle is a plant that is difficult to eradicate because it has long rhizomes. Furthermore, with its sharp thorns and potent toxicity, it is a nuisance to humans.
　It is said that Tomitaro Makino, known as the "father of Japanese botany," planted this in his own garden and named it ”Warunasubi" because it was so difficult to eradicate. “Waru-nasubi” means “bad eggplant” in Japanese.
　It was more than half a century ago that I visited this garden, but perhaps because so much time had passed since his eternal sleep, it was nothing more than an overgrown patch of weeds at the time.

　　　　　　　　　　 Tomitaro Makino, father of Japanese botany