In East China, it is the most widely spread wildflower of the genus Juling, and it is also one of the earliest flowering, and almost in late March, you can see its iconic small yellow flowers blooming dot by bit in the fields and hillsides, and the flowering period is also very long, which can last until around October.
The flowering period of the white grass coincides with that of the snakeberry, and if you look at the flowers alone, they look almost exactly the same, lackluster, and are typical of the rose subfamily, with five yellow petals and a cluster of detached pistils in the middle. But the difference between them is actually very obvious, the subcalyx of the snakeberry is three lobed, the flowers are solitary, the paracalyx lanceolate of the turned white grass, and several flowers form a polygonal inflorescence. In the local area, the city rarely sees white grass, the green area is mostly occupied by snakeberries, and the less inhabited mountains and fields are the world of the genus Weiling.
The flower of the turning white grass is pictured by ppbc Zhang Jingli
In fact, not only snake berries, but also the flowers of the genus Weiling are almost all similar in length, and the distribution areas are overlapping, and if you do not look carefully during the flowering period, it is easy to be regarded as the same species. Weiling genus is a medium-sized genus, there are more than 80 kinds of species in China, the genus is divided into 6 groups according to the morphology of the flower column, but this is too microscopic, the identification in the wild is mainly to see the morphology of the leaves, the basal leaves of the turned white grass are pinnate compound leaves, 2-4 pairs of small leaves, the leaflets are the largest, the small leaves are oblong, the apex is blunt, the edges are round and blunt, the serrations are rarely sharp, the leaves are green, and the reverse side is densely covered with white cotton hairs, which is also the origin of its Chinese name, and there is also a common name for it "white under the leaves".
Leaf of turned-over grass Photo: Frost Moth
The back of the leaves of the white grass is white The picture is from ppbc Zhang Jingli
Since the middle of April, several other wildflowers of the genus Weiling have also appeared one after another, often associated with each other, such as Weiling vegetable p.chinensis, Chaotian Weiling vegetable p.supina, snake containing Weiling vegetable p.kleiniana, etc., by observing the morphology of their basal leaves, such as the number of small leaves, morphology, leaf order, degree of leaf cracking, serrated shape, presence or absence of hair, etc., it is easier to distinguish most common species, such as the basal leaves of Weiling vegetable have 5-15 pairs of small leaves, Oblong or inverted ovate (this is more subjective), the serrations of the small leaves are larger and deeper than those of the turned-over grass, and are pinnate semi-lobed or fully lobed, with generally sharp serrations and lower margins.
Leaves of the Veneers Photo: Frost Moth
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