Dunhuang murals belong to the World Cultural Heritage, with different aesthetic characteristics and artistic styles from secular paintings, plant patterns as an extremely important form of artistic expression has always run through it, the murals are rich in flowers and trees, lush forests and grasses, and rich in species connotations.
The plant in the Dunhuang murals - plantains
Photo by Xu Yongfu
Musa basjoo Siebold is a perennial clumps of the family Plantainaceae. The plant is up to 4 meters tall, the leaves are oblong, the leaf surface is bright green and shiny, the petiole is thick; the top of the inflorescence is drooping, the bracts are reddish brown or purple, the male peanut is in the upper part of the inflorescence, the female peanut is in the lower part of the inflorescence; the berries are triangular, fleshy, and the seeds are black and irregularly angular. Plantain prefers a warm, humid climate, with a moderate growth temperature of 24 to 32 °C, soft and fertile, well-drained sandy loam soil, and the optimal pH is 5.5 to 6.5.
The leaf fiber of the plantain is the main raw material for fabric making, and it is also used as a raw material for papermaking. Plantain has a certain medicinal function, false stem decoction can relieve heat, stem and leaf diuresis, dried flowers after decoction to cure cerebral hemorrhage, cure colds, stomach pain and abdominal pain.
Plantains in frescoes
(Source: China Wildlife Conservation Association Public Account Editor Wang Qiang)