Hydrangea pods
Hydrangea pods, also known as wood hydrangeas, eight immortals. In the honeysuckle family, pods are deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs up to 4 m tall; the bark is grayish-brown or off-white; the buds, juveniles, and petioles are densely covered with gray-white or yellowish-white tufts of short hairs, which gradually become hairless. The leaves are papery, ovate to oval or ovate rectangular, with small teeth at the edges, interstitial knots in front of the lateral proximal margins, polygonal inflorescences, all composed of large infertile flowers, peanuts on tertiary radiating branches; calyx barrels, calyx teeth and calyx barrels several equal in length, corolla white, spoke-like, lobed round inverted ovate, anthers nearly round; flowering in April-May.
Ben was born from the same root
Mention of pods, many pot friends will be a little strange to this, but if you mention the world-famous Yangzhou Qionghua, you will be able to suddenly realize, in fact, Qionghua is one of the varieties of pods, the following Xiaobian will introduce you to this legendary pod.
Pods belong to about 200 species in the world, distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere, about 74 species in China, north and south are distributed, many of which have high ornamental value, well-known varieties are Yangzhou Qionghua, hydrangea pod (wood hydrangea), wrinkled leaf pod, fragrant pod and so on.
Past lives and present lives
In the genus Pod, Qionghua has a long history of cultivation, and the earliest record is found in the "Book of Poetry, Guofeng Qifeng" ("I am in the book of poetry, and I am full of ears, and I am still in Qionghua." Liu Xiaowei of the Southern and Northern Dynasties once had a poem: "Fragrant musk with sewn golden wisps, Qionghua jade wins embellished with beaded emblems." "Qionghua is like white jade, plain and beautiful, and is deeply loved by people."
Qionghua is a collective name for pod flowers, of which Yangzhou Qionghua is the most representative, the ancient Sui Dynasty Emperor dug a canal under Yangzhou to watch Qionghua, resulting in the consequences of the death of the country, making Yangzhou Qionghua become the flower of the country and the world famous.
In the Song Dynasty, with the economic prosperity and rich life at that time, Qionghua was valued for the emperors to watch. When Ouyang Xiu was too punctual in Yangzhou, he once praised Qionghua as a flower that was unparalleled in the world, and also inscribed "Peerless Pavilion" in the Qionghua Temple. And gave a poem: "Qionghua peony medicine is unruly, and even if you don't write a poem, you complain about people." He was drunk under the Peerless Pavilion and knew that he did not live up to Guangling Spring. ”
"Qionghua"
[Song] Wang Yuepu
The Qionghua tree in the Temple of Heaven and Earth is the first flower in the middle of heaven and earth.
Where this kind of origin is explored, the spring breeze is nowhere to flourish.
Thousand-bearded butterflies surround Qingfu, and nine calyxes are associated with beads.
See several zhu clothes and dew scissors, golden bottle advanced to the imperial family.
From the historical records, Yangzhou Houtu Temple Qionghua should be a rare variant of the pod, the only book in the world, the Southern Song Dynasty's meticulous record in the "QiDong YeYu", Yangzhou Qionghua and Juba Immortals (hydrangea pods) are very similar, but the aroma should be strong, and it is difficult to transplant into life, after the death of the Song Dynasty, there is no Yangzhou Qionghua. Later generations replaced it with Ju Eight Immortals, and today's Yangzhou Qionghua is mostly other varieties of the genus Pods, and the treasure Yangzhou Qionghua can only be imagined from historical sources and poetry.
It's hard to tell if it's true or false
(Present) Yangzhou Qionghua
During the Song Chunxi period, Yangzhou Taishou Zheng Xingyi had seen both the real Qionghua and the Eight Immortals. In the article "Qionghua Discernment", he listed three different flowers: "Qionghua is large and thick, its color is pale yellow, the poly-eight fairy flowers are small and the petals are thin, and their color is gradually blue, and the different ones are also; the qionghua leaves are soft and bright, the poly-eight immortal leaves are thick and manic, and the different ones are two; the qionghua flowers are flat, not fruitful and fragrant, the poly-eight immortals are lower than the flowers, the knots are not fragrant, and the different ones are three also." ”
Although Yangzhou Qionghua has a unique style and elegant charm, it is difficult to find, fortunately, the pods are still there, and it is better than nothing. After the valley rain, it is a good time for the Lion Rock hydrangea pods to open, standing under the flowers with the editor, admiring this that the Sui Emperor never forgot, and Ouyang Xiu admired the unparalleled Qionghua in the world.
Source 丨Wuding Lion Mountain Scenic Area