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Spring colors

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A woman walks through a field of rape blossoms at Hamarikyu garden in Tokyo on Sunday.

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rape blossoms

Wow, call me surprised but never knew these flowers were called like that.

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This is "na no hana" (菜の花), which is more typically referred to as rapeseed (probably because that is less jarring that "rape" blossoms).

Na no hana is a variation of the rapeseed plant, and Canola is yet another. Canola was developed in Canada, and the word itself is derived from "Canadian + Oil").

"Na no hana" belongs to the mustard/cabbage family, and has become my favorite green vegetable. To me it is like a cross between broccoli and asparagus. I have never seen this on the shelves of mainstream supermarkets in the U.S., which is a shame. It is truly delicious.

Here are some pictures of it prepared in different ways (菜の花 料理): http://goo.gl/l5VpNf

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Interesting post sensato. I also quite like nanohana, but I didn't know all that info about it.

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Rape or canola. whatever, they are pretty. although in some parts of UK and Europe they have resulted in a momoculture that has devestated local woildlife.....

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"Rape" comes from the Latin "rapa" (turnip). Nothing sinister about it.

There was a Latin word "rapere"' meaning sexual assault, but it wasn't the normal word at the time, so I suppose there wasn't the potential for embarrassment we have now.

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lucabrasi: You beat me to it. I often have people ask me why they are called "rape blossoms" or "rape seed" and it's I explain it as you did (minus the Latin part).

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walked through a field of rapeseed blossoms last spring and took some awesome pictures. simply lovely!

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Kudos to Sensato! I love your post and the link you shared!

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In southeast England, you will usually find crop circle formations in fields of this particular plant.

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