"Red beans are born in the southern country, and a few branches are sent in the spring. May you collect more, this thing is the most lovely" Wang Wei's "Acacia" is a household name, but no one is completely sure what the red beans in the poem are.
After pressing "a few branches" to exclude herbs, there are too many trees that can produce fruits like red beans - Ormosia, Abrus, etc. When botany is entangled with history and literature, there are many contradictions in the classics, so what exactly is red beans is a variety of opinions on the Internet.
In fact, it doesn't matter what kind of plant it is, even a small stone is worth ten thousand gold.
Lovesickness, whether it is pain or sweetness, everyone's understanding is different. On the mainland, north and south, there are scattered some yew (Taxaceae), also known as yew trees, some of which have lived for more than 1,000 years. Growing into towering trees, they distribute pain and sweetness well.
Yew
Yew can be considered a species of pine because DNA analysis shows that yew is phylogenetically nested in the order Pinales. Among the Middle Jurassic fossils unearthed in mainland Yunnan are the ancestors of today's Yunnan Suihua Cir, which show that yew has become widespread and diversified in the era of dinosaur walking.
Today, yew is still found throughout Eurasia, but it is rare in the wild, especially for older trees. In China, there are less than 10 Chinese yew trees (Taxus chinensis) that are hundreds of years old.
In Europe, there are still some old yew (Taxus baccata), most of which are on the side of churches and cemeteries, forming a European idyllic scene. Especially in the northern hills of Surrey, England, where one of the world's oldest populations of large wild yew trees is at least 1,000 years old.
The exact age of yew cannot be accurately determined.
First, yew trees often become hollow with age, so it is not possible to count the number of annual rings, and can only be referenced based on the growth rate and surrounding structure - the oldest yew trees, such as the Fortingle yew in Perth, Scotland, may be as old as 2000 years.
Such yew trees, coupled with the cemetery, often appear in stories as witch treehouses.
One secret that contributes to the longevity of yew is that, unlike most other trees, they are able to split under the weight of growth without dying of "fractures." In addition, they are able to produce new exophytic and basal shoots from the cut surface and low in the trunk, even in old age, and to put it bluntly, new trees envelop old trees.
The embodiment of pain, the sweet temptation
It is not an exaggeration to say that yew is a combination of pain and sweetness.
Yew can cause great suffering – most members of this genus are poisonous to the whole tree. The toxins can be absorbed by inhalation and skin, and eating a small amount of the leaves is likely to lead to death.
Whole yew is toxic — they contain many toxic compounds, including at least ten alkaloids, nitrile (cyanoside), ephedrine, and its essential oils, but the most important toxin is taxine alkaloids, cardiotoxic compounds that antagonize through calcium and sodium channels.
European and Japanese yew are the most toxic in the genus, yew poisoning is fairly common in domestic and wild animals, and according to the 1998 publication of Clinical Toxicology, the lethal dose of adults is 50 grams of yew leaves, and patients who ingest lethal doses die of cardiogenic shock.
Speaking of which, in 2010, a case of death of a lumberjack was recorded in Europe - when he sawed down the yew, he inhaled sawdust from a tree ...
The domestic population is relatively good, but if you accidentally ingest leaves or seeds, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately. While there is currently no known antidote to yew poisoning, at least some medications can relieve symptoms.
Such a poisonous tree, but the fruit is sweet and attractive. The whole yew is poisonous, including the seeds, with the exception of pseudoseed coats - the red flesh that covers the seeds.
The seeds of yew are surrounded by fleshy scales (a variant of the pine cone), forming a soft, bright red berry structure, which is gelatinous and has a sweet taste. Birds love to eat hard seeds that are scattered intact in their droppings.
Write at the end
Cats usually write about animals, but trees are actually interesting. They whisper in the silence of summer nights, roar in the wind, and smile in the sun.
Every year, researchers find more evidence that plants communicate with each other and care for each other beneath the surface — an underground mycorrhizal network of hyphae that acts as the "internet," transmitting all the substances trees need to thrive. Many ecologists and botanists believe that all trees in a forest are interconnected, even those that are not closely related.
If trees are truly social, then maybe they can become cruel from time to time. All social interactions have the power to do harm. Just as we sometimes deliberately cause pain or block each other – trees compete, and sun and rain are a blessing.
Like yew that lives tenaciously for oneself, pain and sweetness coexist in what is given to others.
Author thanks for your attention (- _-)