Glossy Abelia, a birthday flower of July 7th

Glossy / Abelia, known in Japanese as Aberia アベリア, is one of the birthday flowers of July 7th annually. As far as I am aware, it is the only date that it represents. In otherwise, there is no other date in the year that Abelia is the birthday flower for. 

It is a graceful shrub that produces clusters of small, white-to-pink tubular flowers. It can bloom anytime from May to October. I tend to see it flowering most late summer to early Autumn in Saitama Prefecture. The photo in this post was taken in September. Its long blooming season makes it a popular feature in parks and public gardens.

It was named for the 19th century British doctor and naturalist Clarke Able. In the Japanese language of flowers, the hanakotoba, Abelia carries gentle, uplifting meanings such as "good luck", "humility" and "modesty".