Peach blossoms, plum blossoms, apricot blossoms, cherry blossoms... The ancient city of Xi'an in April is full of flowers, some people are busy admiring flowers, and some people are busy eating flowers. To paraphrase the line in the movie "Love Myth": A Shaanxi person, if you don't eat a locust flower once in the spring, your life is incomplete.
I don't know when, the April acacia has become a major event for the Qin people. However, when I love to read poetry books on weekdays, I accidentally discovered a strange thing. The late Tang Dynasty poet Wei Zhuang wrote in "Journey to the East and Returns" that "the resignation of the family willow is three and a half in spring, and the acacia flower on the road is in early July...". The locust flowers bloom in the spring, how did they bloom in July (lunar calendar)? How many times a year do locust flowers bloom?
In order to eat clearly and clearly, I consulted some literature and historical materials, and also consulted the experts of Xi'an Botanical Garden, and finally solved the case. It turns out that the ancients were not wrong, we were mistaken. The so-called locust flowers that bloom in April are actually the flowers of the locust. Acacia belongs to the deciduous trees of the genus Acacia in the legume family. The locust flower mentioned in Wei Zhuang's poem is the flower of the real locust tree. Locust trees belong to the genus Locust in the legume family, and are close relatives of different genera in the same family as locust.
How to distinguish between acacia and locust?
Since they are close relatives, there are inevitably many similarities in appearance between locust and locust trees, but if you look closely, you will find that there are still several obvious differences between the two. The first is the leaves, the leaves of the locust tree are oval in shape and have a pointed tip, while the leaves of the locust are rounded and blunt at the top, without a tip, and the base of the leaf is usually prickly, and the name Acacia is also derived from this. The second is the flower, the locust flowers early, generally in April, for about a week; the locust tree blooms late, about June, and the flowering period can be long to September. Moreover, the flowers of the national locust are conical inflorescences, apical, often pyramid-shaped; the acacia is a general inflorescence, axillary, drooping. Again, the fruit, the locust is a bunch of flattened pods, like dry beans, while the fruit is rosary, fleshy, and does not crack when ripe
black locust
National locust
What about the origins of the two?
The locust tree, a veritable native species, has been cultivated in the mainland for more than 2,000 years, so it is also known as the national locust. In the Han Dynasty Xu Shen's "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Texts", there is a clear explanation of the locust: locust, muye. From wood, ghost sounds. The reason why the ghost character is used as a side is because the ancients feared the ghost god, and the locust tree became a totem with strong vitality and was worshipped by people because of its fast growth and longevity.
(Ancient Chinese locust of the Confucius Temple at Xi'an Academy Gate)
The Zhou Dynasty ruled the country with etiquette, and the Zhou Li Qiu Guan Chaoshi has a record: "Face three locusts, three dukes and thrones, and the governor is behind him." "It is said that zhou tianzi's court had three national locust trees, and the three dukes (referring to Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao, the three most respected officials in ancient China) needed to stand under the locust and wait to see tianzi. Since then, later generations have used the position of the three locusts to refer to the names of high-ranking officials. The locust tree thus became a status symbol and became an essential green plant in the court, official residences, and royal temples.
(National locust in the Small Wild Goose Pagoda)
In the Han Dynasty, locust trees became more and more popular, and the streets of Chang'an were lined with locust trees. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty placed Taixue, and there were especially many locust trees in the house, so it was also called "Locust City". The reason why locust trees are planted all over Taixue is, on the one hand, because the tall branches and dense leaves of the locust tree can shelter the shade and prevent heat; on the other hand, the locust character is homophonous with "Huai", which has the meaning of Huai lai yuan and recruiting talents. For thousands of years, it became a tradition to plant locusts in academies.
In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination was popular, and the locust tree became a kind of spiritual sustenance for the students' hearts to yearn for meritorious names. At that time, the township examination of the imperial examination was generally held in August, just when the locust tree blossomed and bore fruit, so it was also called "locust autumn" or "locust yellow", and if the child went to the examination, it was called "stepping locust", and if there was a lucky high school, it was called "middle yellow". In this way, the locust tree was marked with a strong cultural brand of imperial examination and became a frequent visitor in the poetry works of the literati of all generations.
(Acacia in Ring Park)
As for the acacia, it is an imported product from modern times, originally from North America, and only introduced to China from Japan at the end of the 18th century, so it is also called acacia. Because of its strong adaptability, rapid growth, developed root system, drought resistance to salinity and other advantages, it is widely planted in the north for wind and sand fixation, urban greening and so on. As a fast-growing tree species, it is especially suitable for urban greening in arid and rainy areas in northern China, and in recent years, a large number of horticultural varieties suitable for ornamentation have been derived. Its wood is tough, impact-resistant, waterproof and corrosion-resistant, and it is also a good railway sleeper and construction wood.
Locust eats flowers and the national locust eats leaves
Chinese's talent in developing food is unparalleled and unmatched by other civilizations. Although the locust is an exotic species that has only appeared in modern times, it was soon discovered that its flowers are tender and sweet, and it is a good ingredient. In the north, locust flowers have evolved a variety of eating methods, steaming (locust flower wheat rice), stir-frying (locust flower scrambled eggs), frying (locust flower cake), frying (locust flower crisp), can be described as a variety of tricks.
Compared with today's people, the ancients did not have such a good mouth. The flowers of the national locust are bitter, and although they are non-toxic, they are not easy to swallow, so the only leaves that can be eaten are eaten. However, the leaves were not tasty, and the literature records that before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, they were only used to fill the hunger when food shortages were a last resort. However, in the Tang Dynasty, on the one hand, it was found that locust leaves had the effect of preventing heat and cooling, on the other hand, perhaps due to the influence of the prevalence of keju culture, the noodles made with locust leaves were actually hyped into popular food by a group of literati rioters. "Green high locust leaves, picking and paying for the chinese kitchen." The new noodles come to the market, and the juices are like each other..." Du Fu's poem "Cold Tao of Locust Leaves" was a top tweet at the time.
In addition to making pasta with locust leaves, there was also the custom of stir-frying locust buds in the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty Bao Shan's "Wild Vegetables Bolu" wrote a detailed record of the production method: picking buds and frying, removing bitter taste, and mixing oil and salt.
Chinese since ancient times, pay attention to the homology of food and medicine, and although the national locust flower is bitter, it is a very good medicinal material. The earliest Materia Medica that records the use of locust flowers into medicine is the "Rihuazi Materia Medica" of the five dynasties period at the end of the Tang Dynasty, which says that it can cure five hemorrhoids, heartache, red eyes, kill abdominal insects and heat, cure skin wind, and intestinal wind and diarrhea. Since then, successive generations of physicians have continuously explored its medicinal value, and their understanding of medicinal properties and efficacy has become more and more comprehensive, and classic formulas such as locust flower powder have been passed down to this day. Modern medical research has proved that the medicinal effect of the chinese locust flower is mainly due to the flavonoids and saponin compounds rich in the flowers. These compounds are also abundant in locust flowers, but there are some differences in the main components. Since it was only introduced to China in modern times, although the acacia flower has already had some applications in clinical medicine, it is not included in various Materia Medica works of traditional medicine in the motherland.
(Purple locust is used a lot in horticulture)
The problem is finally clear, in order not to live up to this rare spring, or hurry out to pick some locust flowers to satisfy their appetite. Otherwise, in the autumn, you can only pick some of the leaves of the national locust and eat a bowl of cold noodles with tears in your eyes.