In late spring and early summer, you can always see a plant with small purple flowers in the park and on the side of the road, and few people pay attention to this wildflower and weed except for the flower lovers in the headlines who shoot it and care about what kind of flower it is.
However, it is such an inconspicuous weed wildflower, but it has a long history and great function, and this wildflower and weed is a prickly vegetable.
The history of prickly vegetables can be traced back to the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, and it first appeared in the "Famous Doctors" written by Liang Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasty, but at that time, it was not called prickly vegetables, it was called Little Thistle.
So why did you name this plant thistle? According to the Song Dynasty's "Derivation of Materia Medica", it is because the flowers of this plant are like a bun. Since this plant was called "thistle" in the Southern Dynasty, and the bun of the character in the "Ceremonial Guard Travel Map" in the last Southern Dynasty is compared with the flowers of the prickly cauliflower. Like not, judge for yourself.
Southern Dynasty "Ceremonial Travel"
The flowers of the prickly cauliflower
The medicinal thistle is medicated with its roots, and its effect is "the main essence, blood preservation". When it comes to the "blood preservation" effect of thistle, it is estimated that some friends have applied it, such as in the countryside, children or adults, if there is accidental bleeding, then if the leaves of the little thistle (prickly vegetables) are kneaded and applied to the wound, it can stop bleeding. Modern scientific research has confirmed that thistle stops bleeding by constricting local blood vessels.
Nascent prickly vegetables
In ancient times, prickly vegetables have always existed under the name of small thistle, and after the establishment of modern botany, it was used as the official name of small thistle. The reason why this plant is named after the prickly vegetable does not need to be asked, naturally because this plant has thorns on its leaves and stems. In addition, it is not a pity that the thistle in the ancient books is not used as the official name of this plant, in Chinese medicine books, the name "little thistle" is still used, for example, the book "Shanghai Common Chinese Herbal Medicine" contains that small thistle can "clear heat, stop bleeding, lower blood pressure, disperse stasis and reduce swelling".
Leaves of the prickly vegetables
"Thorny vegetables, prickly vegetables", can it really be eaten as a dish full of thorns?
The answer is: yes. Not only can stinger vegetables be edible, but they have not been eaten for a long time. There are records of the consumption of this dish in Su Song's "Bencao Tujing" of the Song Dynasty. According to the "Bencao Tujing", the time to eat the prickly vegetable should be "when the seedlings are two or three inches in February, and the roots are made into ru, and the food is very beautiful".
I don't know if it's plagiarism, or the hero's view is similar, the books of descendants use "very beautiful" when mentioning the flavor of prickly vegetables, for example, the Ming Dynasty's "Rescue the Waste" said that thorny thistle (another name for prickly vegetables) is "oil and salt seasoning, very beautiful"; Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" mentions eating small thistle, which is also "cooked with roots, and the food is very beautiful". As for the way to eat, it is basically the same as the current cold dish method, blanched in hot water, and can be mixed with seasonings according to personal taste.
The flowers of the prickly cauliflower
"Very beautiful", I have to say, is indeed tempting. However, frankly speaking, I really haven't eaten it, and I can't judge whether what the ancients said is true or false. Next year, next spring will definitely dig up and taste. If you have eaten it, you may wish to talk about whether the taste of prickly vegetables is really "beautiful" as the ancients said!
The flowers of the prickly cauliflower