Grandma, today's summer solstice, I want to eat cold noodles, nasturtium mushroom cold noodles.
There is a flower called Xuancao, which looks very similar to the goldenrod, and now it is the light of flowering.
Are these flowers beautiful? Can I eat it too?
This question is still asked by the teacher of Tatsuyama Botanical Garden to answer Nong.
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Today is the summer solstice
Colorful grass flowering period
It's also coming
In traditional plants and flowers
There are few cultural symbols like Xuancao
Chinese feelings for the grass flower
It's always about mothers
And maybe too many people are representing the mother's "North Church"
Plant grass to relieve the worries of the wanderer
It is also regarded as a "forgetful grass"
What kind of plant is it?
Where did the aliases for mother flowers and forgetfulness grass come from?
Are they the delicious yellow cauliflower on the table?
……
Follow the experts of Tatsuyama Botanical Garden
Find out
What is Grass?
It is a perennial root flower, the name of the grass in English is Daylily, and the literal translation is a day lily. "The flowering period of a single flower is less than a day, blooming in the morning and thanking in the evening, so it got its name. However, there are many flower buds on the whole plant, so the flowering period of the whole plant will be relatively long. You Liming, an engineer in the horticulture department of Chenshan Botanical Garden, said.
There are about 15-18 species of native species of common grasses, and there are 11 species (4 of which are endemic) distributed on the mainland. So far, Chenshan Botanical Garden has collected more than 220 varieties of grass, and more than 130 varieties are displayed in the park, distributed in the Bulbophyllum Root Garden and many flower landscapes. There are 6 color systems, and the flower types are divided into spider type, circle type, triangle type, heart type and so on.
You Liming said that the flowering period of Xuancao begins in mid-to-late May and can last until the end of June and the beginning of July, and some late flower varieties are still in full bloom until mid-July, and the viewing time is very long. The flowers stand proudly in the turquoise foliage, reflecting the flowers blooming in the branches and rendering the summer of the botanical garden like a fire.
Is it yellow cauliflower?
There is a Chinese proverb: "Wait until the broccoli is cold." "A lot of people think that the yellow cauliflower here is the grass. Actually, it's not entirely true.
In the genus, the two native species of yellow cauliflower and grass are the most common, and in recent years, there are also some cultivated varieties of large flowers and grasses that are common in landscaping. Some of the cultivated ornamental grasses are listed in the "Chinese Poisonous Plants", and their roots are more toxic, and accidental ingestion may lead to death.
The edible yellow cauliflower, the flower color is golden, and according to its shape like a golden needle, it is called golden needle. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" said: "Xuan, it is advisable to go down to the wetland, the winter moon is overgrown, the leaves are as weak as pu garlic, the old and new generations, the four o'clock verdant ... Nowadays, the People of the East harvest its dried flowers and goods them, called yellow cauliflower. ”
Yellow cauliflower
The so-called grass of the ancients originally referred to the collective name of the plant genus Xuancao. For example, Cai Wenji wrote in the famous article "Hu Di Eighteen Beats": "I am worried about Xuancao, and I don't forget to play the piano!" (Xuancao, Xuancao, don't you have the name of "forgetting worries"?) Why can't you dissolve my sorrows? And the grass flowers on this grassland are likely not to be grass species, but to be small yellow cauliflower or northern yellow cauliflower of the genus Xuancao.
Later, people began to distinguish between different species of the genus Xuancao. By the Ming Dynasty, it was basically possible to distinguish between flower-viewing grass and edible yellow cauliflower. For example, in the "Flower Sparse" compiled by Wang Shimao in the Ming Dynasty, it is recorded: "Xuancao forgets worries, its flowers can be eaten, and there is a small and pure yellow person, known as Jinxuan, very fragrant and edible, especially suitable for planting on the stone bank." The so-called "Golden Xuan", which is more delicious in taste, is likely to be the most commonly eaten yellow flower grass today, also known as golden needle vegetable.
Therefore, in addition to the yellow cauliflower, most of the plants of the genus Are not edible, and the planted grass can only be used for ornamentation. If you want to eat broccoli, go to the vegetable market and buy it.
Why is it called a mother flower?
When it comes to flowers associated with mothers, many people think of carnations. However, in China, the grass is the "mother flower" with a long history, and it is also the "forgetful grass" that is praised by people.
It has been cultivated in the mainland for more than 3,000 years. In the pre-Qin Dynasty, Xuancao was written as "Chencao". The scribe Lu Biao of the Northern Song Dynasty said in the book "Pi Ya": "The grass can forget the worries, so it is known as the grass." Whoa, forget it. "It can also be seen that since ancient times, the grass has been regarded as a grass that forgets worries.
So what does Xuancao rely on to make people "forget their worries"? There are three sayings circulating: one says that worries cannot be dispatched, so they want to plant this grass, and play with them to forget their worries; It is said that the young seedlings of Xuancao are vegetables, and the moving wind of food makes people dizzy; It is said that the grass is beneficial to people's minds, so you can forget your worries. In general, Xuancao makes people "forget their worries", mainly by diverting their attention, either empathizing to amusement, or paralyzing the nerves like drunkenness, or suppressing the demons with food therapy.
So where did the grass come from as a mother flower? In the Book of Poetry, Wei Feng, Bo Xi, it is said: "The grass is the grass, and the back of the tree is spoken." "North Hall" is the room where mothers lived in ancient times, so North Hall is also called "Xuan Tang", which is used to refer to mothers.
Since then, the literati have often used Xuancao as a metaphor for mothers, which has become a widely recognized literary image representing mothers. Before the wanderer leaves, he will always plant a grass in front of the church to dissolve his mother's worries and pin his thoughts on his mother and his hometown. For example, the Southern Song Dynasty King Shipeng "Xuancao": "There are guests who see Xuancao and regret traveling for life." Empty of people, no solution to forget worries. Tang Dynasty Mengjiao's "Wandering Poem": "Xuancao shengtang steps, wanderers go to the end of the world; The loving mother leaned on the door of the hall and did not see the grass flowers. ”
The mother of the child is worried. On the summer solstice, your greetings as promised may be the best way to relieve your parents' worries and let them forget their worries.
Xinmin Evening News Shanghai Songjiang District Rong Media Center Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden co-produced
Planner: Dong Chunlei Xu Yong Coordinator: Zhang Zhe Wang Ximin Shanghainese: Wang Yuming Chen Youyou Chen Xiaoyou and Grandma Reporter: Jin Minyi Video: Shen Yifan Clip: Hu Pan Illustration, Poster: Wang Jiawei Photo: Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden Editor: Shi Yu