While it is known as 'jigokubana' (地獄花 'hell flower'), higanbana have numerous medicinal qualities.

The plants' alkaloid properties are antibacterial, its roots can be used to treat ulcers and swellings, and the bulbs are antitoxin in nature and can help with burns!

#Japan #redspiderlilies #彼岸花

There was another very good reason for planting higanbana beside fields.
Although the flowers are poisonous, the bulbs, young shoots and stems are full of protein (and have been gathered for thousands of years). If harvests were poor, higanbana offered an emergency food source.

##redspiderlilies

There was another very good reason for planting higanbana beside fields...

Although the flowers are poisonous, the bulbs, young shoots and stems are full of protein (and have been gathered for thousands of years).
If harvests were poor, higanbana offered an emergency food source.

#higanbana #彼岸花 #flowersofthedead #redspiderlilies #spiderlilies #autumn #flowers

Red higanbana may be most prevalent, but spider lilies also come in white and yellow varieties😲

Within Umenomiya Taisha's (梅宮大社) sprawling garden is a quiet grove filled with colourful higanbana.
The shrine is always a treasure trove of flowers (and cats)🙌

#Japan #Kyoto #京都 #彼岸花 #higanbana #equinox #redspiderlilies #UmenomiyaTaisha #梅宮大社