Birth flower for February 3
Setsubun-so
Meaning: radiance, grace
It is named for Setsubun, the early February holiday when it begins to bloom. What look like white petals are sepals; the true petals have become the little forked yellow nectaries in the middle. Found only in Japan, it is a spring ephemeral whose leaves vanish by early summer, and shrinking wild populations put it on the national Red List as near threatened.