Kusamono with fern and strawberry, side view, 4 July 2009

''Kusamono'' (literally "grass thing") and ''shitakusa'' (literally "undergrass") are a potted collection of plants designed to be viewed either in accompaniment with ''

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

'' or alone. Normally, the term ''kusamono'' is used when the planting is displayed as the center of attention, while the term ''shitakusa'' is used for plantings that accompany ''bonsai'' displays. In contrast to underplantings (which are potted in with the bonsai), ''kusamono'' and ''shitakusa'' are displayed separately in special pots, driftwood, or even stones. Plants used are typically

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

, lichen, small

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

, or

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs du ...

s, that may heighten the beauty or reflect a certain season. While traditionally in Japan, plants gathered from mountains contributed to the bulk of

companion planting Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing use of space, an ...

s, modern use has extended to more creative and artistic design.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Kusamono and shitakusa
Shitakusa, companion plantings
nbsp;– Bonsai Society of San Francisco Bonsai