Lead
"It's better to plant trees than to plant stones; It is better to plant stones than to plant stone cracks; It's better to plant clams than to plant clams!"
Clam wood is a magical tree with the properties of being hard and durable, and has long been used by humans to make crafts and weapons, and it is even called "stone tree".
What kind of tree is a clam exactly?
What's so magical?
Why is it called the "Stone Tree"?
1. The magical "stone tree".
Clam wood is also known as the "stone tree".
Generally speaking, trees grow in soil, but there are very few trees that grow on stones.
Generally speaking, the trees that grow on the stones are some vines, which are generally not very hard in wood, but climb very quickly, and are called "climbing" plants.
While climbing plants grow quickly, their woodiness becomes less strong, so among these plants, we rarely see woody hard tree species that grow on stones.
Clam wood is a unique tree species that has a thick calcareous shell on its leaves and bark, which prevents it from being exposed to too much sunlight and makes it less likely to dissipate water.
The miraculous clam tree is called the "stone tree", which is not the most surprising to us, the most surprising thing is that the trunk of the clam wood sinks when it enters the water, it is as heavy as a stone, and it also has the characteristic of "invulnerability", which can be said to be comparable to the iron wall.
The clam is a large tropical evergreen tree, and its bark will also be draped with a golden "jacket", so it is also nicknamed "golden tree".
The clam grows in tropical limestone areas, but this peculiarity of the clam allows it to survive in this environment.
In addition to clams, there is also a plant called "stone pine", which also grows on stones, but stone pine is not actually a tree, but a fern.
Both clam and stone pine grow on stone, but the properties are very different between them, stone pine grows on fragile stones, so its vitality is not very strong.
In fact, the root system of clam is more developed, and it relies on the roots of the tree to drill directly into the cracks of the stone, and then grow.
During this process, its root system grows and at the same time it releases a chemical that facilitates the dissolution of the stone to provide nutrients to the clam wood.
The root system of the clam will stretch in all directions, and at the same time, it will also form a hard "armor" on the stone, so that the clam is not easy to be injured by the stone, which is also the reason why the clam can be "invulnerable".
2. The ecological value of clam wood.
The chemicals released by the clam form a protective film in the soil around it, protecting the roots from erosion and vulnerability, as well as removing toxins from the soil.
The trunk of the clam is very thick, most are 2 meters tall, some are even 5 meters high, and the trunk is round, and there are some leaves on the branches, these leaves are elongated, and the tips of the leaves have slender spikes.
Clam wood is as hard as a stone, and it is the hardest of all woods, so it is called a "stone tree".
The wood of clam wood is also widely used in life, not only to make high-end furniture, but also to make musical instruments, sculptures and buildings.
The wood of clam wood has a high economic value, but also has a high artistic value, so it is also called the "tree of art".
Moreover, the wood of clam wood also has the functions of antiseptic, insect and fire prevention, so it is used to make coffins, which can also resist moths and fires, and at the same time protect the corpses inside the coffin from decay.
In 221 BC, after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he ordered to change the weapons of the Warring States period and replace the bronze weapons with iron weapons, which greatly improved the quality of the weapons and also helped to preserve the weapons for a long time.
Moreover, iron weapons are light, thin, and sharp, so they are also very practical on the battlefield.
However, when iron weapons were first developed, steel materials were not so developed, so many weapons could not be made of iron.
But after some consideration, people thought of clam wood, which is a hard and durable wood, and people used clam wood to make iron gun shafts, knife handles and other weapons, so that they could use iron to cast weapons, and they could use clam wood to make weapon grips, so that weapons could be used more conveniently on the battlefield.
Another benefit of clam is that its bark and leaves can be used to feed livestock, and in a small cave, it can also emit a burst of fresh fragrance.
This is because of the smell emitted by the clam wood, so the clam wood is also called the "sacred tree".
Clam also has medicinal value, with its bark, resin, and roots being used to treat ailments such as skin diseases, burns, and rotten feet.
Clam is also an important part of the ecosystem, providing habitat and food sources that are important for maintaining biodiversity.
There are some parasites on the bark of the clam wood, and these parasites do not cause harm to the clam wood, but can provide nutrients to the clam wood and make it more lush.
In addition, the clam can also absorb dust from the air, as well as toxic substances attached to the leaves, providing a cleaner environment for living things.
3. The ecological function of clam wood.
Clam wood not only provides a clean environment for living things, but also improves the texture of the soil while also making the soil more fertile and thus providing nutrients for it.
As the clam grows, it stretches its roots in all directions, and it also burrows into the crevices of the stones, which helps it to hold the stones in place, thus preventing them from falling and preventing the danger of landslides.
The role of clam wood is not limited to this, it can also prevent soil erosion, improve the soil environment, and also remove harmful substances and salts from the soil, thus providing new vitality to the soil.
Clam also improves the content of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil, providing more nutrients to the soil.
The leaves and bark of the clam wood are shed to form a defoliant fertilizer that decomposes into organic matter in the soil in a humid environment, thus providing nutrients for the fertility of the soil.
Clams emit some organic matter during their growth, which is also very beneficial to the soil, and at the same time, it also promotes the respiration of the soil, thus providing better protection for the soil.
The root system of clam wood also has the function of absorbing and retaining water, which can provide sufficient water to the plants in the soil while also preventing the water in the soil from evaporating.
The leaves of the clam also have the function of absorbing sunlight, so when the sunlight radiation is very strong, it will provide a layer of shade to the soil, thus protecting the soil from excessive water dissipation.
During the growth of the clam wood, it is also able to absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide and at the same time release a large amount of oxygen, thus providing us with clean air.
The flowers and fruits of the clam also attract insects and birds that help the clam to spread its seeds, and they also help maintain the ecological balance of the area where the clam is located.
epilogue
Clam is a very useful tree, so it is also listed as a national second-class key protected wild plant, but in the process of development and production, people still accidentally destroy the living environment of clams, and at the same time there is the impact of climate change, so its population is constantly decreasing, so we should protect clams as soon as possible to maintain its living environment and cultural heritage.