Textu | Cui Fangchun
Recently, walking on the Shenzhou Peninsula, a strange tree on the sidewalk deeply attracted my attention.
Its stump is old, the canopy is large, shaped like an umbrella, the jaws of a few bunches of flowers flutter with the wind, and many brown-gray cylindrical fruits hang from the branches. Or in pairs in pairs, or hanging branches dancing with the wind, or staggering in order, or smiling at each other, becoming a beautiful scenery on the coastal avenue. I ran to the opposite neighborhood and asked a security gentleman who told the name of the tree and told some stories about it.
Hanging melon tree, alias chandelier tree, cannonball tree, sausage tree, purple leaf chandelier tree is an evergreen tree, umbrella-shaped canopy, leafy, beautiful tree posture. The tree is 10–15 meters tall and has a chest diameter of up to 1 meter, making it a high-quality green tree species. Native to tropical Africa, Madagascar, it is cultivated in Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Taiwan in China. Good high temperature and humid, sunny environment, prefer deep and fertile, well-drained soil, not harsh on growing conditions.
Hanging melon tree flowers are sagging in bunches, large and gorgeous. The flowering time is different, mostly blooming in the middle of the night, falling at three or four o'clock in the morning, and the rustling sound of rain will be emitted when the flowers fall. The fruit is cylindrical in shape, generally 30-60 cm long, 8-13 cm in diameter, weighing 3-5 kg, and the largest can reach 10 kg, hard and not cracked. Often hanging branches for a long time, strange and interesting, magnificent. Standing under the tree, people immediately have the reverie of "melons and fruits full of fences to welcome relatives". Unfortunately, its pulp fiber is rough and the taste is not good.
Hanging melon bark can be used in medicine, which has a good effect on the treatment of skin diseases. The pulp is rich in flavonoids, which have the effect of antioxidant, estrogen enhancement, changing the condition of the skin, improving the curve of the chest, and increasing the elasticity of the skin.
About author:Cui Fangchun, a native of Qingzhou, Shandong, has been working in banks for 41 years and is a retired employee. He is a member of Shandong Provincial Prose Literature Association. He has published several poems and essays, and published a long biography "Memories of the Past". Qilu Evening News Qingwei signed the supplement.
One point number Shandong financial literature