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means "morning face", a typical summer flower in Japan. Morning
glory was brought to Japan from China as a medicinal herb. Its
flower was small and blue, and there were not such varieties with
red, purple or brown flowers at that time. The Japanese used the
seeds as a laxative before the Edo Period (1603-1867). In the Edo
Period, people got interested in breeding morning glories and
improved the flower color and size. Enthusiasts established
suitable propagation methods and they often displayed morning
glories in pots.
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"Asagao Homepage" is created by Mr. Eiji Nitasaka, a professor of Kyushu University in Japan. He researches into the mutation of morning glory. He is an expert of Japanesemutant morning glory. You can enjoy various photos of morning glory flowers as well as old paintings of morning glory in the Edo Period. (Japanese version only) |
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breeding mutant morning glories with amazing flower shapes.
These flowers have been preserved since then and raised by
enthusiasts until now. Please check the photos below of mutant
morning glory, which do not resemble the usual trumpet-like
flower. Recessive genes cause these mutations and these mutant
flowers are sterile. Morning glory is an annual flower, so
enthusiasts have to cross the parent plants and save the seeds
every year. The following year they select the mutant types from
among all the seedlings and plant them in pots. Enthusiasts thus
gain knowledge of genetics through their experiences.
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The background of this page is a traditional pattern
for KIMONO (Japanese costume)