The origin and differences of names such as bougainvillea, rhododendron, bougainvillea, and leaf flower are briefly discussed
Text: Mr. Hanaki
China is one of the countries with the richest diversity of biological species on the earth, ranking eighth in the comprehensive; among them, there are more than 30,000 species of higher plants, second only to tropical Malaysia (about 45,000) and Brazil (about 40,000), ranking third in the world (currently some studies believe that the world is second, second only to Brazil).
However, if you talk about ornamental flowers and trees, whether from history or resources, our country is second to none in the world, is the origin of many world-famous flowers and ornamental trees, leading the world trend, in the field of landscape architecture by the British naturalist E · H. Wilson is known as the "mother of the world's gardens" and has had a profound impact and imprint on the world's garden art.
However, with the rapid development of world horticulture and the increase of international exchanges, there are also many beautiful ornamental flowers and trees produced by other countries that have been introduced into The Country, which has greatly enriched people's interest in life, and some have even become local iconic flowers and trees. Take the city flower, there are many cities where the city flower is an exotic species, and even one of them has entered the top three, that is, the popular flower today - the bougainvillea.
First, the bougainvillea is set as the third place in the city flower
According to statistics, at present, there are 57 kinds of city flowers in about 204 cities in China, but it is relatively concentrated, 84% of the city flowers (171) are concentrated in 15 kinds of flowers, and only 34 cities with unique city flowers (some cities have two kinds of city flowers). Among them, the number one city flower is the monthly season, and there are 52 cities! In second place is Osmanthus with 16 cities. The third largest city flower is Rhododendron and Rhododendron Rhododendron, with a total of 11 cities.
Moon season, osmanthus flower, rhododendron is China's unique native flowers, ranked among the top ten traditional flowers, either beautiful flower color, or aroma attack, cultivation history is long, well-known, by many cities as the city flower should be in common sense. And Le Cuckoo, although more common in the south, is a little strange to friends in the north, but if you talk about another name "bougainvillea", then more people know, but compared to other traditional flowers in our country, the popularity is still slightly inferior.
This is mainly because rhododendron is not of Chinese origin, but an exotic species, introduced to the mainland for only a few decades, so it is naturally less popular than other traditional flowers. However, due to its strong adaptability, rapid reproduction, extreme tolerance to barrenness, vigorous growth, and super long flowering period, "flowers" luxuriant, gorgeous flowers, once open, like a waterfall cluster of flowers, very spectacular, so in just a few decades, it quickly occupied the vast area of the south and became the city flower of many cities.
However, if we look up the encyclopedia, we will find that there are many aliases for Rhododendron, such as bougainvillea, triangle flower, leaf flower, bougainvillea, paper flower, South American purple jasmine, etc., and some articles point out that these names represent different flowers, which makes many flower friends a little confused, in order to help flower friends learn more about plant knowledge, let's briefly introduce the origin and difference of Le Rhododendron and other aliases.
Second, the characteristics and differences of foliage plants in botany
First of all, botanically speaking, the bougainvilleae is the common name of the evergreen vine-like shrub of the genus Bougainvillea of the family Nyctaginacea, all of which are about 18 species, native to South America, and the earliest introduction of 2 species of leaf flowers in China (B. spectabilis Willa. and B. glabra Choisy, there are currently about 100 species of horticultural hybrid cultivation.
1. Common characteristics of the genus Leaf Flower
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, sometimes climbing. The branches are spines; the leaves are alternate, stalked, and the leaves are ovate or oval lanceolate. The flowers are both sexes, usually 3 clusters of branches, with three brightly colored leaf-like bracts, with reticulated veins. The fruit is cylindrical or stick-shaped, with 5 edges; the seed coat is thin, the embryo is curved, and the cotyledons are swept around the endosperm. The flower bracts of the genus Leaf Flower are very beautiful and brightly colored, so they are mistaken for "flowers", but in fact the flowers are very small.
2. Appreciation of leafy flowers
The climbing nature of the leaf flower genus makes the plant can reach more than ten meters, the most representative of which are the leaf flower and the light leaf flower, but the main ornamental part of the leaf flower genus is not the flower, but the flower bract. Because of its shape like a leaf, and the color is changeable, very gorgeous; the flowers are luxuriant, like a sea of flowers; especially in its flowering period, thousands of flowers bloom at the same time, clusters of flowers, brilliant as the sun; and climbing tall leaves and flowers, like a waterfall of flowers, from top to bottom, catharsis, spectacular, so it is one of the most famous ornamental flowers in the world.
3. The main difference between leaf flowers and light leaf flowers
Stems and leaves: the branches and leaves of the leaf flowers are densely hairy; the stems of the light leaf flowers are thick, drooping, and there is no hair or loose soft hairs.
Bracts: The bracts of the leaf flowers are colorful, including bright red, orange yellow, purple red, milky white, etc.; the browns of the light leaf flowers are mostly purple or magenta.
Flower color: the flowers of the leaf flowers are narrowly tubular, green, densely covered with soft hairs, the apex is 5-6 lobed, the lobes are unfolded, yellow; the flowers of the light leaf flowers are tubed pale green, sparsely hairy, ribbed, and the apex is 5 shallowly lobed.
Cold tolerance: The leaf flowers have poor cold tolerance and need more than 10 °C for growth temperature; light leaf flowers are more cold tolerant and can survive at more than 5 °C.
Iii. The naming of the genus Leaf Flower and the history of its introduction to China
The genus name for the genus is derived from the discoverer, the French navigator Louis de Bougainville, who discovered the flower in Brazil, South America, in 1766 and brought it back to Europe as the Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. Because of its strong adaptability, easy cultivation, and beautiful flower color, it soon became a favorite garden flower of Europeans and was widely cultivated.
Bougainvillea entered China at the end of the nineteenth century, and in 1871, George Leslie Mackay, a priest from Canada, came to Hong Kong and then traveled to Taiwan via Guangdong to preach. Ma Kai ordered a number of seedlings and flowers from England for cultivation, including bougainville flowers, which is the earliest record of bougainvillea entering China, but it was not widely cultivated at that time.
Bougainvillea is widely cultivated from Japan and introduced to Taiwan. Japan is the earliest exchange with the West of the Eastern countries, by the West more influenced, nineteenth century bougainvillea was introduced to Japan widely cultivated, known as "bougainvillea", and when Japan colonized Our country Taiwan, was introduced to Taiwan. In 1901, the Japanese botanist Tashiro Tochi brought the Japanese-introduced bougainvillea to Taiwan, and it became popular.
Bougainvillea officially entered the mainland cultivation in the 1950s, and the coastal areas were introduced from Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively. Large-scale cultivation is after the reform and opening up, with the frequent exchanges between the two sides of the strait, the bougainvillea quickly took root in the south, and swept the warm areas south of the Yangtze River, once the flower season, the flowers are blooming, gorgeous, so that it is greatly welcomed and loved by people, so that it is now designated as the city flower by 11 cities.
Fourth, the origin of many aliases of bougainvillea
1. Leaf flowers and light leaf flowers
Bougainvillea has many aliases, botanical Chinese named leaf flower and light leaf flower, because the three flower bracts of the plant are very beautiful, often mistaken for flowers, and the flower bracts are shaped like leaves, hence the name. It was first called "leaf-like flower" in Taiwan, and later called "leaf flower" in the mainland, and the light leaf flower, as the name suggests, is because its stem and leaves are hairless or sparsely hairy.
2. Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea was first derived from the Japanese name of the bougainvillea, Taiwan translated into Chinese according to the Japanese name as "bougainvillea", of which "kudzu" refers to its climbing nature, "jiuwei" means because of its lush flowers, very spectacular, so named, so the earliest in Taiwan more called Le rhododendron as bougainvillea.
3. Le Cuckoo
Le cuckoo is the title of the Hakka people in Guangdong, in the Hakka language, "Le" refers to the general name and common name of the plant that stabs people's skin, such as "bamboo" is a kind of thorny bamboo. The name with rhododendron is because the flower color of Le Rhododendron is delicate and can be compared with the traditional famous flower Rhododendron in China, so it is called "Le Rhododendron" by the Hakka.
4. Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is the most well-known common name, this is because the Chinese people love plum blossoms, Le Rhododendron flowering period is long, the flower color is gorgeous, the small flowers are like plum blossoms, dotted with stars, cute, and the flower bracts are like triangular leaves, so people figuratively call it "bougainvillea". It can be said that the name of the bougainvillea is the most appropriate, especially as a bonsai and bonsai is sold to the north, very popular, has become a market darling, so it is recognized and loved by most flower lovers in the country, which is also the reason for the highest popularity.
5. Other aliases
The flowering period of the bougainvillea is long, especially in the winter and spring, and the bracts of zi zi yan red are displayed, giving people a bold and warm feeling, so it is also named "He Chunhong". Because it belongs to the purple jasmine family in plant classification and originates from South America, the flowers are luxuriant, like jasmine, so it is also called "South American purple jasmine". As for the origin of the "paper flower", the flower bracts derived from the bougainvillea are very beautiful and have a long flowering period, just like the paper flowers tied by traditional craftsmanship, which is named, and the fact that its flower bracts are like cicada wings after drying is also one of the reasons for its name paper flower.
In addition, the bougainvillea also has the titles of triangle flower, woolly scarf, scarf flower, leaf plum, etc., most of which are derived according to their forms. It can be said that the name of the bougainvillea is very much, which is a rare phenomenon in the introduction of flowers from abroad, and it can also be seen how much the Chinese people love it.
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5. Conclusion
The above is the history of the introduction of the bougainvillea into the country and the history of many naming, in general, the bougainvillea has not been in the country for a long time, but because it is just like a rhododendron, beautiful as a plum blossom, as bright as the morning sun, brilliant as a flower waterfall, every flowering period, such as fire, brilliant colors, gorgeous and warm, magnificent, so in many city streets, ordinary alleys, you can see the beautiful figure of the bougainvillea, this is its charm.
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2021/10/18 Easy to flower wood