Sarusuberi (not Salisbury) Trees, Provide Long-lasting Color During Tsukuba’s Dog Days- A look at Japan`s Crape Myrtles (again)
By Avi Landau
For years I had been under the mistaken impression that this ubiquitous summer-blooming tree was called a salisbury tree, always thinking that perhaps it had been introduced from England. This was because I assumed (incorrectly) that SARU SUBERI was the katakana influenced pronunciation of the well known British Cathedral town Salisbury (and in fact that is almost exactly how the Japanese WOULD pronounce that place name).
I felt a bit embarrassed when I finally discovered the true meaning of the Japanese tree name: SARU (monkey), and SUBERI (slide). It seems that this unusual moniker came about as a reference to these trees’ smooth, barkless trunks, which make it difficult even for monkeys to climb. Thus it is in fact the MONKEY-SLIP tree, and not the Salisbury.
These trees originally came from Southern China and became popular in Japan during the Edo Period (1600-1868). Interestingly (and baffling for students of Japanese), though still used to write the name SARUSUBERI in Japan, the Chinese characters used for this tree have a completely different meaning from monkey-slip: 百日紅 literally means “one hundred days red”, and would normally be read in Japanese as HYAKU NICHI KO ! So as in the case of many flower and tree names, a completely different reading must be memorized.
These Chinese characters, however, were selected for good reason. The sarusuberi (crape myrtle in English) is a very long blossoming tree. One of the longest, in fact. And that is why you have one-hundred days of red of the name (though, the tree can also have white flowers).
This tree`s wood is very hard and slow growing. Sometimes it is used as a post in the alcoves (tokonoma) of Japanese style rooms. In the intense heat of August, while most other flowers wither away, the sarusuberi will be keeping the neighborhood in full-color.
Just don’t try to climb it!
Crape Myrtle in Konda, Tsukuba
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September 15th, 2011 - 15:06
Thanks for this post, I am a big fan of this website would like to go along updated.
September 16th, 2011 - 20:16
Thanks! The Sarusuberi this year have been particularly outstanding. They have been blooming more beautifully and for a much longer period of time than I can ever remember. They are truly living up to the meaning of their Chinese Characters- One Hundred Days of Red.