In the past, when I went to work in the rice field or paddy field with my elders, I especially hated an aquatic animal, not because of how much harm it did to crops, but because it was not harmful to people.
I'm sure some friends have guessed what it is, yes, this aquatic animal is a leech. In the rice fields and paddy fields of the countryside in the past, this aquatic animal was particularly common, and when working in the fields in summer, it was often sucked by blood, so it was particularly hated.
But do you know that in the plant kingdom, there is also a kind of leech, its name is quite scary, but it is very valuable in the folk, and it was often used to stew meat for children in the past, do you know?
Quite a scary plant
This kind of leech in the plant kingdom is the "hungry locust", when you hear this name, don't you think it's quite scary? The leech is scary enough, but what about the hungry leech?
When I first heard the name of this plant, I also thought it was quite scary, after all, leeches are famous for sucking blood, and after seeing it, I felt that it was not scary at all.
Hungry locust is an erect shrub of the leguminous mountain locust genus, the plant is not tall, generally only 1 or 2 meters. As a leguminous plant, it also has the characteristics of the legume family, such as the leaves are very similar to soybean leaves, but they are larger than soybeans, and the fruits are similar to beans, but the seeds inside are not large and cannot be eaten.
So why is the hungry locust called that? There is a folk saying, and this saying has to do with its value.
In the folk, the hungry grasshopper is a very valuable medicinal plant, its whole plant and roots can be used in medicine, has the effect of clearing heat and diuresis, detoxifying and reducing swelling, eliminating food and breaking accumulation, and has a very good effect on stomach pain, abdominal pain, pediatric chancre accumulation, etc., especially in the aspect of pediatric chancre accumulation, its effect is excellent.
In the "National Collection of Chinese Herbal Medicine" there is a record: "30 grams of hungry locusts, and pork stewed soup to serve, treat children's chancre", in fact, this is the most common usage of the folk, in the past in the countryside, if there are children do not like to eat, the older generation will go to the mountains to pick some hungry locusts stems, leaves or roots, and then take back the stew for children to eat.
I remember when I was a child, I was a picky eater and didn't like to eat, and my grandfather used this stew for me to eat, and my grandfather said, "Do you know what it's called? This is called a hungry locust, and when a baby eats the meat stewed with it, he will love to eat like a hungry leech." "Perhaps that's why the hungry locusts are called hungry locusts.
Of course, this is not to say that the hungry locust is the only one of its value. In the past, in rural areas, hungry locusts were used in a variety of places, or in the aspect of insect and snake bites, you must know that in the mountains and forests in the past, there were more snakes and insects than now, when you went to work in the mountains, how could there be no insects and snakes, so many farmers in the mountains will know some antidote, swelling, pain relief herbs.
The hungry locust is one of the more common, and its usage is also very simple, just mash it, or it can be pounded into juice. Therefore, in the past, the value of hungry locusts would be very high.
Where are the hungry locusts?
Since the hungry locust is so valuable, where can you find it?
Hungry locusts are widely distributed in the mainland, basically distributed in the areas south of the Yangtze River, mostly grow in the slope grassland or forest edge at an altitude of 600 to 2300 meters, and its wild resources are also very rich, so you can get to know it, if you go to the mountains to play in the future, this plant may be used for emergency use. But everyone should remember that it is good to pick its branches and leaves, but do not destroy it at will, that will destroy the ecological environment.