平成27年の近畿地方の梅雨は　6/3から7/20頃

まとまった雨がしっかりと降り　新生竹も立派に育ちました（写真の手前左が今年の新生竹）

台風11号で倒れた竹を片付けながら　喜ぶRさんは　不思議な物体に手を止めました

笹の葉の細い茎に　朱色の塊が　くっついています

触る勇気がありません・・・

竹の枝で突っついてみました

動きません

（何だろう？？？）

自宅へ戻り　早速調べてみると　「赤団子」という名前の竹に付く菌ということ

その生態は明らかではない　とあります

（キノコの仲間なら　こわくないかな・・・）

この竹林では１年おきに　1,000本を超える新生竹が出ており

なお且つ比較的　1本1本の竹の寿命が長いので

そろそろ密度の限界の　サインかな

小さなかすかな竹の声に　そっと耳を傾けます

A Strange Object

This year, during the rainy season in our Kinki region, we had enough rain for the young bamboos to grow.
(A young bamboo is in the left foreground of this photo.)
When I was cutting some bamboos that are broken by the typhoon No.11, I suddenly noticed some red lumps stuck on the bamboo leaves.
"What is this?" I wondered.
I tried poking at them with a stick, but they didn't move.
After coming back home, I referred to a text on bamboo.
It seems that the red spots are a type parasitic fungus known as "Akadango" (which literally means red dumplings).
In this bamboo forest, more than a thousand of young bamboos have been growing up every other year.
Moreover, each bamboo have a lifespan that is longer than other of the forest.
So, I thought maybe this is a sign that this forest is too crowded with bamboos at the moment.