5 The Century Flower

Imagine a plant that blooms only once every hundred years. What wonders might that century bring? During the last hundred years, for example, technology has produced the airplane and the rocket; television, the telephone, and the radio have been invented. Yet through all this time, the ma-dake bamboo of Japan, a “century plant,” has flowered but once.

The Japanese people greet the phenomenon of the plant’s flowering with sadness. The economic life of the country people depends to a great extent upon the ma-bamboo. It is used in making paper, creating art, building houses, and for a myriad of other purposes. Unfortunately, once the plant blooms, it dies. The Japanese people mourn the death of these plants, just as an American farmer would mourn the death of a wheat field.

Since a bamboo forest consists of a single generation of plants, miles of bamboo forests wither at the same time. Plants in a generation go through the various stages of development together.

Most other plants and flowers produce seeds and fruit. But the ma-bamboo is unique in that it sends out roots to perpetuate itself. When the bamboo blossoms, even the roots die, and ten years must pass before new roots take hold.

The last flowering of the bamboo occurred in 1960. In most parts of Japan it will not blossom again until 2060. Like Halley’s Comet, it is a rare natural occurrence, to be seen only once in a lifetime—and then only if one is born at the right time.

5 百年之花

想象一种每百年才开一次花的植物。这一百年里会发生多少奇迹呢？例如，在过去的一百年里，科技发明了飞机和火箭；电视、电话和收音机也被发明出来。然而在这段时间里，日本的真竹——一种“百年植物”——只开过一次花。

日本人对这种植物开花的现象怀着悲伤的心情。农村人的经济生活在很大程度上依赖真竹：它被用来造纸、创作艺术品、建造房屋，还有无数其他用途。不幸的是，这种植物一旦开花就会死亡。日本人会为这些植物的死亡而哀悼，就像美国农民会为麦田的绝收而哀悼一样。

由于竹林是由同一代植物组成的，绵延数英里的竹林会同时枯萎。同一代的植物会一起经历各个生长阶段。

大多数其他植物和花卉会结出种子和果实，但真竹的独特之处在于它会伸出根来繁殖自身。当竹子开花时，连根部也会死亡，新的根须扎根需要十年时间。

这种竹子上一次开花是在1960年。在日本的大部分地区，它要到2060年才会再次开花。就像哈雷彗星一样，这是一种罕见的自然现象，一生只能看到一次——而且只有出生在合适的时间才能看到。