Higanbana Flames

The higanbana (red spider lily) is a flower with more than 1,000 names. Although well known for its somewhat haunting symbolism, the higanbana can also be seen as a flower symbolizing rebirth, rather than death. Blooming around the autumn equinox (September to October), these flowers emerge from the soil like flames licking from glowing embers. Perhaps unusually, the red flowers emerge before their leaves, with spindly petals curling in as threadlike anthers reach up and out. Ships passing in the night, the flowers and leaves never meet. Shooting from the ground like red flames, blooming higanbana ignite the forest floor and welcome the birth of the autumn harvest.