White orchid, not a white orchid.
In different places, brandy carries different meanings. In the memory of Suzhou and Shanghainese, every summer there will be grandmothers with white orchids strung together with wires, shouting in Wu Nong's soft language; in the impression of Lingnanians, it is a row of street trees on the side of the road, as long as you walk under the trees, you can smell the dark fragrance; in Yunnan, people call it Burmese osmanthus flowers, accompanied by the melodious tune of "Burmese Osmanthus Blossoms Ten LiXiang", witnessing the friendship between countries.
White orchids. Image: Prenn /Wikimedia Commons
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the white orchid is just in time</h1>
Michelia × alba is a member of the genus Magnolia in the family Magnolia. If you are careful, you may find that there is a fork in the Latin name of the brandy, which means that the brandy is actually a hybrid. Its parent is M. Huanglan (M. champaca) and M. Yamaguchi (m. montana), the situation is similar to that of Bauhinia × blakeana in Hong Kong, China. The English name of the white orchid is white champaca, which is one of its parents, M. Champaca) adds "white" to the seed word, and their plant appearance is also very similar.
Left yellow orchid, right white orchid. Image: El Denis Conrado & Fightingfalcon2005 / Wikimedia Commons
Yellow orchid is occasionally cultivated in Southern China, but it is more common in Southeast Asia, and Tagore's famous "The Champa Flower" refers to it. At a cursory glance, the yellow orchid is no different from the white orchid except that the flowers are yellow, and if you do not look at the flowers, you can basically only distinguish from the subtle features of the hair and petiole under the yellow orchid leaves. However, the yellow orchid can produce normal results, while the white orchid may be due to hybridization and usually cannot bear fruit, which is similar to the safflower sheepshoe nail.
Profile of a white orchid. Image: CommonsDara / Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps because it is a hybrid, the earliest origin of the white orchid is now impossible to verify, and it should be inferred from the parents in Southeast Asia. According to legend, China's white orchid was brought back from Indonesia by Zheng He's fleet during the Ming Dynasty, but it may also be imported from Burma, hence the name "Burmese Osmanthus Flower". In 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai and then Burmese Prime Minister Wu Bari planted two white orchids in Mangshi, Yunnan Province, symbolizing the longevity of Sino-Burmese friendship. Today, the two white orchid trees that have weathered the wind and frost are still growing lushly.
Two white orchid trees symbolizing Sino-Burmese friendship. Photo: Yang Bangqing
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > in the flower tray, on the placket</h1>
It is already a tradition to use white orchids as jewelry. "White orchids, hairpins on sideburns, inserted on the placket..." This old Shanghai song from the 1930s has been passed down to this day with the charm of an old-fashioned phonograph. Usually, the grandmother who sells flowers will use thin wire to skillfully string up a pair of white orchids, put them on a small plate, and then gently cover them with a layer of tulle, and a pair of flowers is only one or two dollars. Such a bunch of white orchids on the collar can be surrounded by fragrance wherever you go, which also adds a lot of small fresh breath.
Does Grandma's flower basket evoke your childhood memories? Image: Smiling
In the past, the local sisters in Suzhou and Shanghai liked to dress themselves like this. Perhaps in the old days, every girl who slowly walked through the Bund in Wu Nong's soft language had such a pair of white orchids on her clothes. The white orchids taken home can be placed in a small teacup and poured with a little water, which can either continue to be immersed in the floral fragrance, or become a jade carving-like ornament on the coffee table; if it is not satisfied, it can also be brewed into flower tea. However, relatively speaking, the aroma of white orchids made into flower tea has been greatly reduced, so it is not as common as jasmine tea.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > day is too cold, the growth is not high</h1>
Although Gangnam has so many memories of brandy, it is difficult to see the orchid tree on the street, because it is a plant from Southeast Asia after all, and the winter in the postal area is too cold for it. Therefore, white orchids can only be planted into pots in East China, and in the winter, the flower farmers in Suzhou can only collect them all into the greenhouse, and cannot move out again until after the Qingming Dynasty.
A white orchid from a friend's house. Image: Calendar lady
But in South China, it is completely different. The white orchid has regained its evergreen nature, and the figure of the white orchid tree can be seen everywhere in parks, schools, and roadsides. In front of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, there are two huge white orchid trees, with a trunk diameter of nearly one meter and a canopy covering an area of hundreds of square meters. Some places will refer to bailan as "magnolia", and the city flower "magnolia flower" in Chaozhou, Guangdong, refers to the white orchid. In fact, the real magnolia (Yulania denudata) is a deciduous tree, which is leafless when it blooms, and is not common in Guangdong.
Image: Margoz /Wikimedia Commons
Magnolia, it and magnolia (Y. liliiflora) can get Magnolia × soulangeana.
White orchids not only have a floral fragrance, but also have a special fragrance, walking on the path lined with white orchids, you will smell the fallen leaves under the trees emitting a burst of fragrance. The white orchid leaves are also loved by the Magnolia doson butterfly, a butterfly with a beautiful blue pattern that lays eggs on the leaves and allows the orchid tree to nurture its offspring. If you look closely at the white orchid leaves on the side of the road, if you find traces of gnawing, you can usually find large or small magnolia butterfly larvae next to it. They are not stinging like silkworm babies, and if you are interested, you can take them home and raise them until they pupate into butterflies.
Magnolia butterfly adult and pupae. Image: Peellden & School of Ecology and Conservation / Wikimedia Commons
In today's rapid economic development, due to the pressure of life and land shortage, the space left for flower growers and flower sellers is getting smaller and smaller, and people's love for white orchids seems to have gradually faded. In the summer, there are fewer and fewer grandmothers who come out to sell flowers, and perhaps the white orchids in Jiangnan will really only remain in the memory in the future. Fortunately, white orchids can be potted, and if they are well taken to survive the winter, they can bloom all over the country. Picking a rich white orchid can make our lives, but also make ourselves, more white and fragrant.
On the streets of Suzhou, a pair of gardenias and white orchids were found. Image: Smiling
This article is from the Hull Species Calendar, welcome to forward
If you need to reprint, please contact [email protected]