2026 06 21 都忘れ（みやこわすれ）

 

都忘れ（みやこわすれ）

学名：Gymnaster savatieri

キク科ミヤコワスレ属（またはシオン属）に分類される多年草で、

日本原産、野菊の仲間です。もともとは山野に咲く野菊の一種です。

現在は園芸品種として改良され、

庭先や花壇でも親しまれる花となりました。

復興教会ではいろんな草花の間から花をのぞかせていて

とても素朴な野に咲く菊のような花ですが、その魅力は様々な人の心をとらえたようです。

その伝説の一つは、この「都忘れ」という名前にあります。

鎌倉時代、承久の乱に敗れた順徳天皇は、

佐渡島へ流されました。

その地でこの花を見つけ、

その可憐な美しさに心慰められ、

都への恋しさを忘れることができた――。

そんな言い伝えから

「都忘れ」と呼ばれるようになったと伝えられています。

もちろん史実として確かなものではありませんが、

長く人々に愛されてきた物語のひとつです。

もう一つの物語は

この学名 「Gymnaster savatieri」からきています。

まず後半部分の「 savatieri」 は、ラテン語ではなく、Savatier（サヴァティエ）という人名に由来する学名です。

フランス人医師・植物採集家、Ludovic Savatier（1830–1891）に献名されました。

学名は、国際命名規約に基づき、人名を記念して種小名にするときにラテン語風に語尾を変化させることが多く、

Savatier（人名）→savatieri「サヴァティエの」「サヴァティエにちなむ」となります。

学名の前半［Gymnaster］は？

ギリシャ語 gymnos（裸の） ＋ aster（星）

花や果実の特徴から付けられた属名で

Gymnaster savatieri は

「サヴァティエが星のように可憐で素朴な花姿だと愛でた」

という意味の学名となります。

こちらのLudovic Savatier（ルドヴィク・サヴァティエ）氏 は、19世紀に日本の植物研究に大きな足跡を残したフランス人の医師・植物学者です。

医学を学び、1866年頃、フランス海軍の軍医となり。明治維新の前後の日本へ派遣される。

横須賀製鉄所（後の横須賀造船所）で軍医として勤務し、日本人の診療や衛生指導に携わり

、休日や休暇を利用して日本各地交通も発達していない時代に、広い範囲を歩きながら植物を採集しました。

彼は植物を乾燥標本（押し葉標本）にし、フランスやヨーロッパへ送りました。

当時、日本の植物はまだ海外ではそれほど知られてなかったのですが、サヴァティエら外国人研究者が『Enumeratio Plantarum in Japonia（日本植物目録）』という大著をまとめヨーロッパへ紹介したことで、多くの日本植物が世界に知られるようになったということでした。これらの標本は、日本植物の研究資料として今も重要な価値を持っているとのことです。

日本植物学といえば牧野富太郎氏が有名ですが、サヴァティエ氏はその少し前の世代だそうです。

そして最後の物語は京都復興教会の緒形乙枝先生の「花こよみ」から

多忙の中、帰って見る教会の「都忘れ」の咲くあたりに心の安らぎを覚えた。とのことでした。

時代も国籍も超え三者三様でもこの花の素朴な美しさに心とらわれたのですね。

Miyakowasure (Japanese Wild Aster)

Scientific name:　Gymnaster savatieri

Miyakowasure is a perennial plant in the daisy family, belonging to the genus*Gymnaster* 

Native to Japan, it is one of the Japanese wild asters. Originally, it grew naturally in the mountains and fields as a humble wildflower. Over time, it was cultivated and improved as a garden plant, and today it is widely enjoyed in gardens and flower beds.

Here at Kyoto Fukkou Church, its blossoms peek out from among many other plants. Though modest and unassuming, like a wild chrysanthemum blooming quietly in the fields, this little flower has captured the hearts of many people throughout history.

One of its stories lies in the origin of its beautiful name, **Miyakowasure**, which literally means *"forgetting the capital."*

According to legend, after the **Jōkyū War** (1221), the exiled Emperor Juntoku was sent to Sado Island.

There he discovered this delicate flower. Its quiet beauty brought such comfort to his heart that, for a moment, he forgot his longing for Kyoto.

From this story, it is said, the flower came to be known as **Miyakowasure**—"the flower that makes one forget the capital."

Whether or not the story is historically true, it has been cherished for centuries as one of the flower's beloved legends.

 Another Story Hidden in Its Scientific Name

The scientific name, Gymnaster savatieri, tells another fascinating story.

The latter half, 「savatier」, is not a Latin word in itself but is derived from the surname 「Savatier」.

It commemorates 【Ludovic Savatier (1830–1891)】, a French naval physician and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of Japan's flora.

In botanical Latin, it is customary to honor a person by adapting their name into a Latinized species epithet.

Thus:

Savatier→ savatieri

meaning *"of Savatier"* or *"named in honor of Savatier."*

The first half of the scientific name, **Gymnaster**, comes from the Greek words:

*gymnos* — "naked"

* aster*— "star"

The name refers to certain characteristics of the flower and its fruit, describing what botanists saw as a "naked star."

So the scientific name ***Gymnaster savatieri*** simply means:

*"the species of Gymnaster dedicated to Savatier."*

It does **not** mean that Savatier himself named it because he thought it looked like a star; rather, later botanists honored him by giving his name to this species.

Ludovic Savatier was a French physician and botanist whose work greatly advanced the study of Japan's native plants during the nineteenth century.

Around 1866, he came to Japan as a naval surgeon and served at the Yokosuka Iron Works, later known as the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Alongside his medical duties, he devoted much of his free time to exploring the Japanese countryside in search of plants.

Travel was far more difficult in those days than it is now, yet Savatier journeyed extensively across Japan, collecting countless specimens. He carefully prepared pressed plant samples and sent them to France, where they became valuable resources for European botanists.

Together with the French botanist **Adrien René Franchet**, he later compiled the monumental work *Enumeratio Plantarum in Japonia* ("An Enumeration of the Plants of Japan"), introducing thousands of Japanese plant species to the scientific world.

Today, many of the specimens he collected continue to serve as important references for botanical research.

When speaking of Japanese botany, people often think first of **Tomitaro Makino**, who is known as the "Father of Japanese Botany." Savatier belonged to the generation just before Makino and helped lay the foundation upon which later Japanese botanical studies were built.

One More Story

There is one final story connected with this flower.

It comes from pastor Otoe's *Flower Calendar***, written for Kyoto  Fukkou Church.

She wrote that, after returning home from the busyness of daily life, he would find peace whenever he saw the Miyakowasure blooming on the church grounds.

Across different centuries, different countries, and different lives, these three stories all point to the same quiet truth.

The exiled emperor, the French botanist, and Pastor. Otoe each found themselves drawn to the simple beauty of this humble flower.

Perhaps that is the enduring gift of Miyakowasure.

In its quiet blossoms, we too may discover a moment of peace that gently helps us forget our worries, if only for a little while.