Folk legend has it that begonias were originally fragrant. When heaven celebrated the birthday of the Queen Mother of the West, the Tathagata presented several pots of strange flowers and raised them in the Guanghan Palace. A beautiful girl saw it and liked it very much, and begged Chang'e to give her a basin. By chance, he met the Queen Mother, who was very angry and knocked the jade girl and the flower in her hand down to the mortal world. The flower happened to fall in the garden of an old man. When the old man saw a pot of strange flowers falling from the sky, he called his daughter, Miss Haitang, to come and pick it up. He kept shouting: "Begonia! Begonia!". The girl walked out of the door and saw a pot of strange flowers in the old man's hand, so she asked: "Is this flower also called Begonia?" The old man saw that the unknown flower in his hand was as beautiful as her daughter, so she simply called it Begonia flower. Begonia has been in the world ever since. Cultivation, but the fragrant soul has drifted away with the wind.

Of course, this is just a beautiful legend compiled and appended by later generations, but it reflects people's love for crabapples and their concern about whether they are fragrant. There have always been different opinions on whether Begonia has fragrance. "Wang Yu Poetry" records that Shi Chong of the Jin Dynasty once said to the blooming crabapple flowers: "If you can smell fragrant, I should store you in a golden house." Did Shi Chong really say that "If you can smell fragrant crabapples, I should store them in gold houses." "The golden house stores you"? There is no official historical record of this matter. This statement only appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, but this legend reflects the world's concern about whether crabapples are fragrant.

Many poets believe that crabapple flowers have fragrance, but everyone has different opinions on the degree of fragrance of crabapple flowers. The fragrance of crabapple is divided into two schools. One group believes that crabapple has a strong fragrance, represented by "the fragrance is invincible and the flower is supreme" (Wang Yu "Shangshan Begonia"), and the other group believes that the fragrance of crabapple flowers is Most of these views of heavenly fragrance, distant fragrance, and seemingly ethereal fragrance are obtained through personal verification. Other literati believe that crabapple is a flower with color but no fragrance, which only shows off its appearance and lacks intelligence inside. Lu You couldn't help complaining about Haitang's experience, so he wrote a poem "ridiculing Dan Geng Dao for its unscented place, often hating people's words for being too profound" ("Two Poems on Haitang"). In another poem, Lu You believes that the beauty of crabapples is so beautiful that even if they don’t have a strong fragrance, it is not a reason for criticism. “It’s too much to praise the beauty, but it’s not enough to lack the fragrance” ("Appreciating Begonias on February 16th") ).

There are many interesting anecdotes about Begonia Wuxiang. Liu Yuancai, a man from the Song Dynasty, claimed that he hated five things in his life, one of which was hating "the fragrance of crabapples". The talented girl Zhang Ailing once expressed a similar meaning. Her three hates in life are "boney shad, fragrant begonias, and the unfinished dream of Red Mansions." "The Mo Ke Hui Xi" also records another interesting anecdote about Yuancai: "Dr. Li Dan has nothing to do for the next year. When it comes to granting Changzhou, the people who discussed it changed the award to Ezhou because they were far away from home. Liu Yuancai spit out rice when he heard it. Da _ went to pay a visit to Li and asked, "Who is planning to go to Changjia County?" Li Jing asked, "Is the supply abundant?" No." He said, "How can we know it is good?" Yuancai said, "Haitang has no fragrance, but Changzhou Haitang only has fragrance, so it is not a good county." Those who heard it laughed."

There is another view that the crabapples in Jiazhou (today's Leshan, Emei and other places) and Changzhou (today's Yongchuan City under Chongqing City) in central Sichuan are different from other places in that they all have fragrance. To this day, Leshan, Dazu and other places are nicknamed "Begonia Fragrance Country". "Who hates the lack of fragrance? Try smelling the flower branches. The gentle breeze will penetrate the fine silk sleeves, and it is not only found in Jiazhou" (Wang Shipeng of the Song Dynasty, "Dian Jiang Lip") It is also said that the Begonia in Changzhou in Sichuan has fragrance. "It was said in the past that Begonia has no fragrance, but the Begonia in Changzhou has fragrance. It is believed by the Sichuan Dao and it is not easy to say" ("Xiang Begonia" by Xue Jixuan of the Song Dynasty). Later, it was gradually discovered that there are fragrant crabapples in other places. It cannot be said that except for Jiazhou crabapples, they are all fragrant. Xue Jixuan went on to write, "There are three books of Tang in the medicine garden, and the flowers are also fragrant, so I know that Shu Tang is not the only fragrant, and Xiang Tang has its own kind of ears!"

Li Yu believes in "Xian Qing Ou Ji" Begonia has a fragrance, and the fragrance is vague, but the fragrance of begonia is covered up because of the enchanting, gorgeous and graceful appearance of the begonia flowers. He also pointed out that although crabapple is slightly less fragrant, its flower beauty is unparalleled by other flowers, and crabapple should not be blamed for seeking perfection. "This "Spring and Autumn Annals" blames the sage. Otherwise, if there are many people who have no fragrance, they will be forgiven, but only Haitang is to blame? However, I also say that Haitang is not full of fragrance, but the fragrance is vague, and unfortunately it is covered by color. Li Yu had a different opinion on the problem that the ancients thought that crabapples were "colorful but not fragrant": "Smell it, and there is another kind of fragrance." After sniffing it, he sighed: "Oh! The sound is great, the beauty is not harmonious." Xi Bi is as fragrant as orchids and like musk deer, so it is called fragrant." After many researches and field investigations, the author is inclined to the view of Li Yu from the Qing Dynasty, that is, crabapples are fragrant, but the aroma is relatively weak. Specifically, whether the crabapple is fragrant or not depends on the variety and flowering period. For example, the double-petaled crabapple is more fragrant, while the fragrance of the single-petaled crabapple is slightly lighter;

The crabapple is graceful and delicate, but the fragrance is not enough. In fact, the fact that crabapples have little fragrance is a flaw. Many famous flowers in the world are not fragrant, such as azaleas, tulips, cherry blossoms, cyclamen, dahlias, etc. And although crabapples have few fragrant flowers, crabapple plants such as papaya and crabapple are not fragrant. The fruits such as Tiegan Begonia are fragrant and have a special interest.