In early summer, on the shore of Tuanjie Lake in Yangmiao Town, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, the warm sun awakened millions of irises. Colorful irises bring rainbow-like magic to this low hilly land. On May 26th, the first flower calamus (Japanese iris) exhibition of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences opened here.
Iris blossoms
In 12 years, the germplasm resources exceeded 1,000 parts
The intersection of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the calamus began in 2008. That year, researchers at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences collected more than 20 copies of calamus phylogenetic resources.
"The starting possessions are these more than 20 germplasm resources." Sun Ye, an associate researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, said that through cross-breeding and radiation mutagenesis breeding, they have cultivated one calamus variety or germplasm resource after another.
At present, the germplasm resources of calamus selected by the agricultural science have exceeded 1,000. "This is our approximate estimate, but there are many hybrids in the test field that have not yet been counted." Sun Ye said.
From the initial tens of tanks (clusters) of more than 20 parts of the flower calamus germplasm resources, researchers at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences spent 12 years to develop to nearly 80 acres of millions of plants and thousands of germplasm resources. Such a scale of development gives them the confidence to hold the first flower calamus exhibition.
"Of course, the first Iris Exhibition was also supported by project funds." Sun Ye said that in recent years, the infrastructure of the scientific research base has also been greatly improved, "the base has a greenhouse, there is a road, tourists come to play, will not take the mud road." ”
In ancient China, there are records of irises
The flowers of the iris are extremely rich, and often a flower has a variety of colors, coupled with its elegant butterfly flower shape, making it loved by people around the world. China is also one of the important distribution areas of iris, there are more than 300 species of iris native species in the world, and there are more than 60 species in China.
China's cultivation of iris has a long history, the Song Dynasty pharmacologist Su Song edited the "Bencao Tujing" wrote: "Iris is born from the ground, the leaves are flat, wider than the shoot dry, now everywhere, the big kind of wild ginger is also shot dry, born in the Nanyang Shantai field, now everywhere." "This book has a detailed record of irises and shootouts from leaves to stems, from flowering period to flower color. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" compiled by Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty has a detailed record of the horse lin of the genus Iris from flower color, flowering period to medicinal value.
The development of horticulture has made the iris of the flower like a butterfly really insert its wings. Today, horticulturists have bred tens of thousands of iris varieties through cross breeding. Because of this, the "rainbow goddess" of Iris has also gone to the public.
In today's Yangzhou, many scenic spots and parks are planted with irises. Of course, the most colorful place is the Iris Base of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences. In addition to thousands of germplasm resources, there are more than 300 horticultural varieties.
The magic of the "Rainbow Goddess"
At the iris base of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, the flower calamus is blooming, and at a glance, the colorful irises are like a rainbow of seven colors, like a dream.
Sun Ye said that in fact, the flower color of the iris, even if the use of seven colors of the rainbow, is not enough to include. Taking the Japanese iris as an example, the main colors are white, yellow, cyan, purple, water, vine, dichromatic, etc., and the flower color is very rich.
The flowers of the iris are like butterflies, and not only are the flowers beautiful, but the flowers are also large. "The flower diameter of 10 cm is the small wheel flower, the 15 cm is the middle wheel flower, the 18 cm is the large wheel flower, and the 20 cm is the huge wheel flower." Sun Ye said.
There are so many varieties of irises, but the average visitor does not need to know their specific names, just enjoy the flowers.
Iris flowers are beautiful, but the flowering period of each flower is very short, only two days. However, each cluster of irises has more flowers and branches, and it can continue to bloom for about a month from the first flower.
"This Exhibition of Japanese Irises starts on May 26 and lasts until June 6." Sun Ye said that the flower exhibition is free for tourists to watch. Reporter Xiang Jiafu