Chinese Ground Orchid, a birthday flower of May 6th

"Shiran" is a type of ground orchid native to Asian countries. There are different type of "shiran" in Japan, which for me causes quite a bit of confusion. The "shiran" pictured in this post is very different, for example, to the large "shiran" flower display they have in Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park.

"Shiran" is the birthday flower of May 6th annually. For the point of this post, I refer to the "shiran" pictured which is generally called "Chinese Ground Orchid" in English. Its scientific name is Bletilla striata. There are widely differing beliefs in what the Japanese language of flowers of Chinese Ground Orchid is. Each source or website says something different, but the most common among them all is that it means "unchanging / enduring love". 

The Chinese Ground Orchid blooms for much of May and June, but it can start blooming in April. I took the photo in this post on May 2nd (2026). Purple is the most common color, but there is white too and pink is the most elusive. As far as I know, this particular type of shiran, as a Chinese Ground Orchid, only features on the birthday calendar once for May 6th. It is one of at least two birthday flowers of May 6th. The other is Cape Jasmine.