laitimes

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

author:Popular Science China

Every day and every day people urge, winter solstice, yang and spring come again.

During the winter solstice, snow is white and the wind is shivering. There is a plant that blooms in the cold winter and spring, although it does not have the reputation of plum blossoms "scattered shadows across the shallow water, dark fragrance floating moon dusk", nor does it have the praise of narcissus "if the flowers in midwinter are stayed, only the ice posture is not relieved", but it can face the wind and frost with it, and leave the old and welcome the new.

But she is not famous for her wind bones, but because she looks "like a flower and a leaf", which makes us stupid and indistinguishable and out of the circle. Because of its strange appearance, we call it a leaf flower.

01

Little leaf flower, why are there so many "vests"?

Leaf flowers belong to the leaf flowers of the purple jasmine family, climbing vines or shrubs. If we hear rhododendron rhododendron, scarf flower, bougainvillea, triangular plum, etc., they are actually other names for leaf flowers. So why does it have so many weird names?

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Copyright images in the gallery are not authorized to be reproduced

Because its "travel experience" is very rich, in the process of moving from the place of origin to the world, it has gained many local names.

The leaf flowers are native to countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay in South America.

On June 13, 1767, the French naturalist Philibert Commerson followed a voyage expedition around the world to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America, where he collected a thorny green-leaved vine with three buds. In honor of his good friend Bougainville, France's first fleet commander to lead a circumnavigation expedition around the world, Kenmerson named the new genus "Bougainvillea".

The leaf flowers have a variety of flowers and a long flowering period, which are loved and widely introduced, introduced to Europe in the 19th century, and then introduced to Southeast Asian countries through the United States and Japan.

Because of the different morphology and introduction experience of leaf flowers, each region has a unique name. Western countries call it South American purple jasmine (because it belongs to the purple jasmine family and is native to South America), and the United States calls it a paper flower. In the 19th century, the leaf flower was introduced to Japan and widely cultivated, and is called "bougainvillea". Hong Kong literally translates to "treasure scarf flower" according to the pronunciation of "Bougainvillea".

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Copyright images in the gallery are not authorized to be reproduced

In the 50s of the 20th century, this flower began to be widely cultivated and applied in the provinces of the mainland. The southern region of mainland China calls it the thorny cuckoo or rhododendron, which refers to the thorn of the plant. The northern region calls it the leaf flower, and the central China region calls it the triangular plum.

Because the leaf flowers are limited by temperature, they are mainly cultivated in the open field south of the Yangtze River, such as Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Guizhou Qianxian Prefecture, Sichuan Panzhihua City, etc., and have now become the city flowers of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities. In a wide area from northern South China to Central China and North China, it can be planted indoors and greenhouses for wintering.

02

Leaf? Flower? Stupid can't tell the difference...

The red English is dense in winter, and the colorful reflection into the pond. Leaf flowers, when in bloom, like colorful clouds first gathered, ten miles of red makeup. It has a wide range of colors, including purple, red, pink, yellow, white and variegated. But this brilliant color is like a flower rather than a flower. Well? So what exactly is this? No, how can flowers be so beautiful?

Let's open our eyes and take a closer look, we can see that there are 3 small white flowers in the middle, and this is its real flower. The petals we mistake every day should be its bracts with clear veins.

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Copyright images in the gallery are not authorized to be reproduced

Actually, bracts are a metamorphosis leaf. So how did the bracts of the leaf flowers develop into what they are now?

Leaf flowers need to be pollinated with the help of insects. Often brightly colored and fragrant flowers are more likely to be "favored" by insects, while its flowers are small and difficult to attract the "attention" of insects. In evolution, it also faces the same dilemma, should it jump out of the "comfort zone" or choose to "settle for the status quo"?

Of course, it chose the latter. In order to survive, it chooses to metamorphosis its leaves into brightly colored bracts that can be retained for a long time, thus attracting insects to pollinate. Its peanuts are born in the middle of the bracts, so it is also called "leaf flower".

In addition to being able to classify leaf flowers by color, they can also be divided into single-petal varieties and double-petal varieties according to the morphology of the bracts.

For plants that rely on insect pollination, how to increase flower display and make insects more likely to find themselves has become the key to successful reproductive activities. The small area of the flowers themselves, and relying on other parts of the plant, such as leaves, to enhance the visual display becomes a good strategy.

This strategy is not unique to leaf flowers, and many other taxa have independently evolved large, brightly colored bracts that are used to attract insects in place of flowers. For example, Euphorbia pulcherrima is a common ornamental plant, and the fiery red leaves we see are not petals, but leaves; The small yellow dots in the middle are the real flowers. Another example is the plant of the genus Mussaenda spp., which usually has broad white sepal lobes and small yellow flowers.

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Poinsettias. Image source: Wei Zhourui

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Mussaenda shikokiana. Image source: Wei Zhourui

In addition to replacing flowers with leaves, in order to increase the attractiveness of flowers, there are plants that choose to sacrifice part of the reproductive capacity of the flower, and the stamen degenerates, turning into sterile flowers with broad petals (or calyxes), arranged on the periphery of the inflorescence, arching smaller and inconspicuous fertile flowers with normal reproductive capacity. Examples include some species of Viburnum spp. and Hydrangea spp.

Many of these plants are excellent ornamental flowers, and after artificial selection, they have also cultivated varieties with only peripheral sterile flowers and lack fertile flowers for ornamentation.

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -
Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Viburnum keteleeri (top) and its cultivar, Viburnum keteleeri (bottom), a cultivorum of the genus Viburnum. Image source: Wei Zhourui

Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -
Small leafy flowers, with so many "vests"! The reason is -

Viburnum keteleeri (top) and its cultivar, Viburnum keteleeri (bottom), a cultivorum of the genus Viburnum. Image source: Wei Zhourui

03

Leaf flowers vs. light leaf flowers

The crystal curtain moves in the breeze, and the garden is full of colorful flowers. Leaf flowers are widely cultivated around the world, with about 18 species, and there are 2 species on the mainland, namely Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. and Bougainvillea glabra Choisy. Although their names are very similar, they differ in morphology.

The first is the leaf flower, which is also called the hairy leaf flower because of its young stem, calyx tube and dense brown hairs, especially the long branches.

Flower bracts ovate, mostly purplish-red (often varied), flowers are born in clusters at the tips of branches, apical inflorescences have peduncles, flowering from November to June of the following year, falling leaves when flowering; The leaves are large, 6~10 cm long, and the blades are round and blunt at the apex; axillary spines prominently curved outward at the apex; The stems are thickest, the thickest of the leaf flowers, and are mostly planted in the garden, pruned into thick stems, and then moved to pots to breed bonsai. Not hardy, above 7 °C to safely winter.

To distinguish leaf flowers from light leaf flowers, you can start with their most significant differences. Light-leaved flowers are glabrous or sparsely pubescent, while leaf branches and leaves are mostly covered with dense hairs. In addition, the bracts of light leaves have a variety of colors and are more hardy; The leaf buds have bright red, brick red, light purple and other colors, and the cold tolerance is poor.

The leaf flowers are of high ornamental value and are cultivated as climbing flowers for fences in southern China. At the same time, leaf flowers are also important New Year's Eve flowers, blooming in winter and spring. It is the Spring Festival, and the buds of Yi Ziyanhong show infinite vitality and hope, so it is also named He Chunhong. The north can be made into potted plants and placed in the courtyard and porch to add a touch of spring color. The leaf flowers are found in their native Brazil, and are often used by women as ornaments and worn on their heads. Europe and the United States like to use it as cut flowers.

This red color from the other side of the ocean has shown her beauty to the world.

Produced by: Popular Science China

Author: Li Xiaopei (Chinese Academy of Forestry)

Executive Producer: China Science Expo

Selected by: Computer Information Network Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Read on