bush clover; Japanese clover
Any flowering plant of the genus Lespedeza. Commonly associated with autumn in Japanese culture. Usually written in kana.
When autumn came, the bush clover in the garden began to bloom.
Bush clover is blooming in the autumn field.
Bush clover is one of the seven autumn flowers.
dark red outside, blue inside (autumn color combination)
Traditional color combination for layered garments (襲の色目), worn in autumn. The outer layer is dark red and the inner layer is blue.
See also: 襲の色目
In layered garment color combinations, 'hagi' is a pairing of dark red on the outside and blue on the inside.
Hagi (city in Yamaguchi)
Only when written 萩
Place name: a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Written with the kanji 萩.
Hagi City is in the northern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture.
萩 (はぎ) is the kanji for bush clover, while 荻 (おぎ) looks almost identical but means silver grass (a reed-like plant), so the two are frequently mixed up in writing.
萩 refers to the bush clover plant itself, while 萩原 (as a place name or surname) denotes a field where the plant grows abundantly.
origin; source; beginning · basis; base; foundation; root · cause; source of trouble · ingredient; base; mix; stock · one's side; one's place; near someone · capital; principal; cost price · base of a plant; root; tree trunk · part held in the hand; handle end · first three lines of a waka · counter for plants or trees · counter for falcons
reedy field; field of bush clover
ohagi; sweet rice ball coated with red bean paste, soybean flour, or sesame
summer-blooming bush clover; Lespedeza thunbergii
dwarf milkwort; Polygala japonica
shrubby lespedeza; bicolor lespedeza
Lespedeza buergeri (species of bush clover)
Lysimachia fortunei (species of loosestrife)
woolly lespedeza
white bush clover · Lysimachia fortunei
Standard kanji spelling for the plant and the city name. For the plant, kana is more common in everyday writing.
Katakana spelling sometimes used for the plant, especially in botanical contexts.
Kana spelling is usual for the plant sense.
Rare ateji spelling for the plant; not commonly used.
The plant name is native Japanese. The kanji 萩 is a phono-semantic compound: 艹 (plant) + 秋 (autumn), reflecting its association with autumn. The city name derives from the plant.
Lythrum anceps; loosestrife
autumn-blooming bush clover