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Rich Repository of Plants |
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| Oita Prefecture
is blessed with a warm climate and has much rainfall.
The shoreline is made up of a shallow beach and a tidal
flat along the Suo Channel, as well as the ria coastline
of Bungo Channel where the bluff drops sharply into the
sea. The tectonic line lies diagonally under the ground
and it divides the mountain soil into new and old volcanic
rocks and sedimentary rocks from ancient times. Mt. Nakadake
in Oita Prefecture is the highest mountain (1,791m) in
Kyushu. The natural weather cycle has created the plains,
shores along the rivers, and dunes sharpening the mountains
and carving the valleys after many years. It has also
formed the moors where plants grow on. Japanese pampas
grass (mis-canthus), reed (phragmites), moliniopsis(pampas
grass) and spiraea have grown in clumps in the prairies
and rocky climbs. From the lowlands to the mountainous
districts, the natural woods of chinquapin, evergreen
oaks, firs, Japanese hemlock, and beech trees grow thick.
Among the wild plants in Oita, a total of 2,830 species
grow in the wild; 330 kinds of ferns and 2,500 kinds of
seed plants. The most widely distributed item is made
up of 40% Shino-Japanese elements such as Japanese pampas
grass and reynoutria (smartweed) which grows widely in
the East Asian continent and 35% of the kind of plants
native to Japan, such as gentian and cirsium. Other plants
in the northern cold district such as moliniopsis (pampas
grass) and quercus, and warm-climate plants such as crinum
and ficus, have 5% distribution respectively. Including
the foreign dandelion and goldenrod grown in towns and
in the suburbs, all these constitute the various kinds
of plants in Oita. |
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Plants which are Especially Suited to Oita's
Natural Environment |
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| Some particular
species of tilia and calanthe have grown only in Oita
and have never been seen in any other places in the world.
Wild azaleas at the top of the volcanoes and hosta on
the rocks at the top of Mt. Sobo grow in colonies and
they are especially suited to the mountains of Kyushu.
A rare kind of alectorurus and kirengeshoma elements are
found in the mountains in Kyushu, Shikoku and Kishu. The
northern cold district plants like menyanthes and lobelia
moved south 20,000 years ago, in the ice age, and they
propagated in the damp ground of the volcanic highlands.
When south-west Japan bordered on the continent, some
species of iris and lilium moved and settled in the dry
area of the highlands. On the other hand, the warm temperature
plants, which grow in the tropical and sub-tropical areas,
settled in the islands and cape of the Bungo Channel as
these places have a warm and mild climate, influenced
by the warm Kuroshio Current. These plants have been growing
in the rich natural environment here since time immemorial.
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Praying for the Eternal Abun-dance of Natural
Assets |
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| As there is little
flat land in Oita, the lives and production activities
of the people have extended from the beaches and riverside
to the inland areas. They made towns and cities and cleared
forest land for paddy fields and farms. Through maintaining
the semi-natural plains made by burning grass off the
fields, the highlands have been made into artificial pastures
and afforested areas, and a large number of natural trees
were cut down to make cedar woods. The number of rare
plant species has been increasing, and these are facing
the danger of extinction due to loss of land. The situation
was outlined in the "Red Data Book Oita" published
by Oita Prefecture in 2001. The book states that 102 ferns
and 606 seed plants are in danger, including those already
extinct and missing species, and outlines the degree of
danger and reasons of extinction for each species. For
the plants who chose Oita, we pray for their eternal propagation
and for the preservation of their land as the natural
assets of "Toyo-no Kuni" (Oita's old of Natural
Assets name meaning "Land of Prosperity"). |
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The tideland of Suo Channel (Matama Town)
Bungo Channel The Coast of Yonozu Village
Mt. Nokogiri (Yamaga Town)
 Sobo
Mountains
Nikka elements@The plants are distributed
from Japan to the East Himalayan area over the central part
of China.
Sohayaki elements@The plants are
intensively distributed in the mountain areas of Kyushu, Shikoku
and Kii Peninsula in Honshu.
Tilia
Hosta
Lobelia
Lilium |
