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[en] The “seven herbs of autumn” ( 秋の七草 ), Aki no nanakusa, appear in the Man’yōshū (万葉集), oldest and one of the most revered anthology of Japanese poetry.

Detail from 秋草図屏風 – 俵屋宗雪筆 : Flower plants of autumn by Tawaraya Sôsetsu. See the related page from the Tokyo National Museum emuseum.jp

These flowers express the melancholy of autumn, and are the following :

Hagi — Bush clover — Lespedeza spp.
Obana or Susuki — Japanese Pampas Grass — Miscanthus sinensis
Kuzu — Kudzu — Pueraria lobata
Nadeshiko — Fringed Pink — Dianthus superbus
Ominaeshi — Damsel Flower — Patrinia scabiosaefolia
Fujibakama — Eupatorium fortunei
Kikyō — Balloon Flower or Chinese bellflower — Platycodon grandiflora

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Source of images : all from Wikipedia.

More details about Autumn flowers on this page by the Urasenke Foundation

Bibliography : Betty W. Richards, Anne Kaneko. Japanese Plants : know them and use them.Tokyo, Shufunotomo, 1988 . isbn 4-07-975121-4
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[fr] Les “sept fleurs de l’automne” ( 秋の七草 ), Aki no nanakusa, sont citées dans le Man’yōshū (万葉集), la plus ancienne anthologie de poésie japonaise et l’une des plus révérées.

On leur reconnaissait la qualité émouvante de traduire la mélancolie de l’automne. Ce sont :

Hagi — Lespédèze — Lespedeza spp.
Obana or Susuki — Herbe de la pampa — Miscanthus sinensis
Kuzu — “Vigne” Kudzu — Pueraria lobata
Nadeshiko — Œillet — Dianthus superbus
Ominaeshi — Patrinia scabiosaefolia
Fujibakama — Eupatorium fortunei
Kikyō — Platycodon grandiflora

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[ja] 秋の七草

万葉集: 秋の七草を詠んだ歌
References to Man’yōshū poems about Autumn flowers.

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