Producer: Popular Science China
Production: Xia Si rain
Producer: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
In the middle of summer in August, the south is humid and sweltering, especially the people of Lingnan in the coastal areas, take a sip of herbal tea to cool off and get wet.
Herbal tea is a common name for Chinese herbal plant drinks, usually drinking medicinal cold and Chinese herbal decoction water that can dissipate the heat in the human body. However, the most common way to get a cup of herbal tea is to go to the supermarket to buy a certain brand or another brand to relieve the hunger, but the packaged beverage has a high sugar content and a relatively simple taste to drink.
Xiaobian recommends a popular herbal tea common in Lingnan area - Wuhua Tea, which reduces fire for the hot summer.
Five-flower tea is made from five kinds of flowers: frangipani, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, locust and kapok, so let's interpret the appearance, taste and efficacy of these five flowers one by one!
Source: lily.today
1. Frangipani
"The big leaves of the green onion are like loquats, and the bloated branches are white flowers; when you see the yellow hearts of the flowers, the family leans on the fence of a tree."
- Yuyong River
Native to tropical America, frangipani is now widely cultivated in a variety of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. As a typical tropical representative plant, when you see the frangipani, you will think of the tropical style, and you will think of the sun, the beach, the waves, and the cactus.
Left, a necklace in the shape of an frangipani, source: etsy.com; Right, frangipani shaped hairpin, source: aliexpress.com
In Hawaii, frangipani garlands are also the best accessory for festivals. The clothing and ornaments of Hawaiian residents are also commonly patterned with frangipani flowers. In addition, it is also the national flower of Laos, and neighboring Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia are also full of frangipani.
In Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, the plumeria is also one of the "five trees and six flowers" (five trees: bodhi tree, tall banyan tree, bay leaf palm, betel nut and sugar palm; six flowers: lotus, manjushri, yellow ginger flower, Burmese osmanthus flower, ground spring golden lotus and plumeria) that the monastery must plant.
The white five-petaled "egg white" is wrapped in a goose-yellow "egg yolk", especially like a cut boiled egg, hence the name of the plumeria. In addition, it also emits a fragrance like gardenia, guangdong, Guangxi people often pick its flowers to dry and make tea, but oleander plants are usually poisonous, how can anyone still take the frangipani flower to make tea?
In fact, the frangipani is also poisonous, but its venom is hidden under the skin, and the white juice will be revealed under the cut skin, and the juice will poison people when it comes into contact with people's wounds. Therefore, when we encounter oleander plants, we must pay attention not to touch yo, if you are not careful, you will be caught!
Childlike little fresh frangipani, image source: xueti.net
Boiling water to soak fresh frangipani, tea flavor is fragrant and lubricated; after drying is also a unique aroma, Guangdong Zhaoqing famous specialty "Seven Star Plumeria Tea" is dried frangipani brewed.
Dried frangipani, source: aliexpress.com
2. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is actually honeysuckle, but because it was first recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" as "honeysuckle" and then widely known, although it has now been officially corrected, many places still like to use the name "honeysuckle".
Honeysuckle is in flowering during the growing season, according to the order of bud development, it can be divided into five stages: three-green period, two-white period, great white period, honeysuckle stage and golden flowering period.
Honeysuckle first blooms white, then slowly turns yellow, Source: xueti.net
Fresh honeysuckle flowers can be used directly to soak water to drink, fresh honeysuckle tea is light green, wafting with the unique aroma of honeysuckle, fresh taste. You can also pick buds to get dried honeysuckle in the morning when the dew is just dry.
The flower tea brewed after the honeysuckle is dried in different growth periods is not the same. The tea soup brewed after the honeysuckle dried in the three-green period, the second white period and the great white period is light green, but the taste is more bitter; while the tea soup made after drying and brewing after picking in the honeysuckle period and the golden flower stage is light yellow, the taste is not bitter, but there is a little more sweetness and aftertaste.
The tea soup brewed by honeysuckle after drying is yellow, source: xueti.net
3. Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemum tea should be the most commonly drunk flower tea, but do you know how to brew a cup of perfect chrysanthemum tea that is mellow, fresh and natural and best retains the ingredients of chrysanthemum tea?
First of all, there are eight mainstream varieties of chrysanthemums on the market, namely: Hangju (Tongxiang, Zhejiang), Miaoju (Anhui Miaozhou), Gongju (Anhui County), Chuju (Anhui Chuzhou), Qiju (Hebei Anguo), Huaiju (northern Henan), Jiju (Shandong Jining), Huangju (Jiangxi), preferences vary from person to person.
Again is the brewing method, which has been done experimentally, the experiment shows that every 2g of dried chrysanthemums with a temperature of 120ml of boiling water of 100 degrees Celsius 1 time brewed for 15min, can maximize the maintenance of the components in the chrysanthemum tea, chrysanthemum tea the various effects are mainly through volatile substances, total flavonoids and chloroganic acid and other functional substances. Total flavonoids can lower blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and chlorogenic acid can be antibacterial and antiviral, and is often used as a standard for the quality level of chrysanthemum tea.
The tea soup of chrysanthemum tea is pale yellow, clear and transparent, sweet in taste and long in aroma; source: how01.com
"Chrysanthemums serve for a long time to benefit the flesh, light body and resist the old and prolong the years" - "Shennong Materia Medica"
The most impressive thing about chrysanthemums is the magnificence of the golden armor in the city, rich colors, cultivated varieties, and high ornamental value of art chrysanthemums have carried out countless tours in the country and even the world every year, and the preference of our people for chrysanthemums is not only because of its "strange", mainly because of its medicinal value.
During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, chrysanthemums have joined the vegetable family, and there is "Autumn Chrysanthemum of Sunset Meal" in "Departure from Sorrow", so it has developed a medicinal chrysanthemum that clears the heat and the liver, and then, the medicinal chrysanthemum and the art chrysanthemum go hand in hand, consolidating the important position of chrysanthemum in the top ten flowers in China.
Brilliant chrysanthemums, source: Michelle
4. Locust flowers
Acacia flowers in a broad sense refer to the flowers and buds of the legume sophora japonica l., but the open flowers are generally referred to as "locust flowers", also known as "locust buds"; and the buds are called "locust rice".
Around May Day, a string of white locust flowers are dotted with branches, and the air is filled with the smell of plain and elegant fragrance, "The locust forest May Yang Qiong flowers, lush and fragrant drunken, spring water and blue waves floating down, floating incense all the way to the end of the world." ”
When the locust flowers are in full bloom, strings of white hang on the branches; image source network
Hard-working and capable mothers can always bring the flowers and grasses in nature to the table, so the n kinds of locust flowers are born: fried locust flowers, scrambled eggs with locust flowers, steamed locust flowers, locust wheat rice, locust flower porridge, and can also be stuffed with dumplings... However, the most convenient way to eat it should be to brew a cup of locust flower tea!
Fresh locust flowers; image source network
Locust flower tea is rich in rutin, vitamin A and other nutrients; clear heat and fire, cool blood to stop bleeding, clear liver and eyes and reduce blood pressure, "Materia Medica" has said: "Stir-fried incense frequent chewing, cure aphasia and laryngeal paralysis, and cure vomiting blood, collapse leakage." ”
The color of the locust flower tea soup is light; the picture source network
5. Kapok
Kapok, known as the hero tree, also known as Panzhihua, is the city flower of Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, China. Native to India, the Malay Archipelago and the Philippine Archipelago, it has been widely cultivated in Southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with the migration of immigrants.
There is a kapok road in Tainan Baihe LinChupi, and in 2015 it was also named one of the 15 most beautiful flower streets in the world by the Spanish tourism and leisure website borepanda. Kapok trees are tall and stout, and orange-red flowers bloom from March to April every year, like a small red light bulb resting on a branch. Kapok usually grows in hot and dry areas, and the flowers bloom first, but in monsoon or rainforest climate conditions, the flowers and leaves bloom together.
Kapok, also known as the hero tree, has a straight trunk and is often used as a street tree; source: xueti.net
South China does not produce cotton, since ancient times local residents will collect kapok wool as a substitute for cotton, so kapok since ancient times has been known as "cashmere on the tree", but in fact, it is still a fine tea, kapok tea soup red orange, clear and bright, with heat, dampness, heat relief effect.
Kapok's flower buds are slightly bitter, picture source network
I didn't expect these five beautiful flowers to cool off in the hot summer, right? Why not bring your own cup of diy handmade herbal tea! However, herbal tea is too functional, every summer there are drinking too much herbal tea and stomach pain, diarrhea and other adverse reactions, so drink in moderation, do not covet oh.
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