Forsythia suspensa ) vahl is also called falling on, even shell and green wing. It is a deciduous shrub of Oleaceae. Mainly produced in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and other places, with the largest output in Shanxi and Henan; In addition, Liaoning, Hebei, Hubei, Gansu, Yunnan and other provinces are also distributed. The fruit is used as medicine, which contains forsythin, forsythin, forsythol, betulinic acid, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, arctiin and its aglycone, arhat oleoresin, arhat ester glycoside, etc. Seeds contain triterpenoid saponins, branches and leaves contain forsythin and ursolic acid, and flowers contain rutin. Pharmacological experiments show that it has antibacterial, cardiotonic, diuretic, antihypertensive, antiemetic and anti-liver injury effects. The taste is bitter and slightly cold. Has the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, resolving hard mass and reducing swelling. Can be used for treating wind-heat common cold, carbuncle, swelling, sore, scrofula, urinary tract infection, etc.

I. Morphological characteristics

Plant height is 2-3 meters. The stems are clustered, the branches are slender and flat or drooping, the branchlets are light brown, the top is quadrangular, and the internodes are hollow and unmyelinated. Single leaf opposite, occasionally trifoliate. The leaves are ovoid to oblong in width, 6 6- 10/0cm in length and1.5-2.5cm in width. The tip is sharp or blunt, the base is wide wedge-shaped or round, and the edge has irregular serrations. The first leaf of the flower is open, 1 to several flowers clustered in the leaf axils; Calyx 4-parted; Corolla yellow, lobes 4, orange stripes in corolla tube; Stamens 2; Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule is made of wood. There are scattered tumor spots on the surface, which crack like a bird's mouth when it matures. There are many seeds with wings (figure 15-30).

Fig. 15-30 morphological diagram of forsythia suspensa

1 .cuttlefish 2. Fruit branch 3. fruit

Second, biological characteristics.

Forsythia suspensa has a strong self-growth ability, and a large number of new branches are extracted from the base every year. Strong adaptability, not strict with soil climate, can grow in humus soil and gravel soil, but likes warm and humid climate. From the field distribution, most of them were born on sunny or semi-cloudy and semi-sunny slopes. In places with insufficient sunshine, stems and leaves grow vigorously, but there are not many fruits. Cold-tolerant, able to overwinter in the field in Hohhot. Branchlets in Beijing germinate in early March, blossom first and then leave at the end of March. Flowers can bloom in late April. Because they bloom in early spring, if the temperature is unstable, it is easy to cause freezing damage during flowering. From August to June, the fruit ripens 65438+ 10 month, and leaves fall 65438+065438+ 10 month in June. Seeds are easy to fall off after maturity and should be harvested immediately.

Forsythia suspensa flowers can be divided into two types, namely long style flowers and short style flowers. These two kinds of flowers do not grow on the same plant. Under natural conditions, plants with long styles only bloom without fruit, while plants with short styles only bloom without fruit. Only when long-style plants and short-style plants are mixed together can they blossom and bear fruit (Table 15-29).

Table 15—29 Relationship between Different Pollination Combinations and Fruit Setting Rate

(Zhang, 1985) Quantitative pollination combination method and measures Number of flowers, fruit setting rate (%) 1 long style emasculating bagging pollination 20 0 2 long style emasculating bagging pollination 20 0 3 short style emasculating bagging pollination 20 0 4 short style emasculating bagging pollination 20 0 5 long style emasculating bagging pollination. Powder 20 19 95 6 short style× long style emasculating and bagging pollination 2018 903. cultivation techniques

(1) land selection and preparation

Improper land selection, poor soil, slow growth of forsythia suspensa, premature senescence of branches and low yield. It is advisable to choose a mountainous area with thick soil layer, fertile soil and sunny lee. In addition to seedbed soil preparation, generally only digging holes for planting.

(2) Forsythia suspensa can be propagated by sowing, layering and cutting.

1. Planting

Sow seeds in the whole seedbed from the end of March to the beginning of April, with the row spacing of about 30cm, covered with 1-2cm fine soil, and then covered with grass to keep the soil moist, and seedlings will emerge in about half a month. When the seedling height is 15-20cm, the seedlings should be fixed according to the plant spacing of1-2 cm, and ammonium sulfate (7.5kg per mu) and rare topdressing should be applied.

Step 2: Stratification

Forsythia suspensa layering takes root easily. Before the rainy season comes, the longer annual branches on the mother plant will bend downward, bury them in the soil near the mother plant for 3-4 cm, and then fill them with water to keep the soil moist until autumn. In order to obtain a large number of healthy branches that grew in the same year during layering, the old branches of the layering mother plant should be cut off in spring to promote the propagation of a large number of new branches. After defoliation, you can dig out the new seedlings propagated by layering and cut off the long branches. The heel is buried in the ditch to prevent the cold, and then planted in the next spring, or directly cut from the mother plant in the next spring, with roots.

Step 3: Cutting

After defoliation in autumn or before germination in early spring, use 1-2-year-old robust branches and cut them into cuttings about 20cm long, leaving only 2-3 upper leaves and removing the rest. According to the row spacing of 25× 15cm, after deep tillage, intensive cultivation and leveling, insert the cuttings into the seedbed, so that the cuttings are exposed to the soil surface with 1-2 knots. Water and irrigate immediately after cutting, and then keep the bed wet. Axillary buds can germinate in ten days and begin to grow roots after half a month. Topdressing is started 20-30 days after the survival of cuttings, and can be applied 3-4 times later, and annual seedlings can be planted in the field.

In addition, it can also be propagated by ramets. It should be done after defoliation in autumn or before germination in spring.

(3) Site management

1. Transplantation

Generally, hole planting is adopted, the hole spacing is 2× 1.5m, and a small amount of decomposed compost or manure is applied to each hole, so that the roots are naturally stretched and compacted during planting.

The fruit-setting rate of forsythia suspensa is very low, so it is necessary to alternately cultivate long style plants and short style plants when transplanting, which can greatly improve the fruit-setting rate of forsythia suspensa (table 15-30).

Table 15—30 Comparison of fruiting rate under different cultivation conditions

2. Reasonable pruning and topdressing

The basal part of forsythia suspensa has strong germination ability. Every year, a batch of long branches are pulled out, which leads to the dispersion of nutrients and the decrease of fruit setting rate. If you want forsythia to bear more fruits, you must prune it reasonably, weaken it and keep it vigorous. When pruning in winter, thinning is the main method, except for 3-7 strong trunk trees in each pier, the other thin, withered and aging branches should be cut off as appropriate. After pruning, topdressing decomposed compost or manure, or adding calcium superphosphate, ditching and covering the soil beside the plants.

In June, the new and redundant branches were removed from the base, and the head was taken off according to the specific situation.

In addition, intertillage and weeding should be done in time after transplanting, and other short Chinese herbal medicines or other crops can be interplanted between rows.

Fourth, harvesting and processing.

There are two kinds of medicinal materials: Qingqiao and Huangqiao (also called Laoqiao). "Qingqiao" was picked in early September, when the skin was blue and immature. Boil in boiling water for a while or steam in a steamer for about half an hour, then take it out and dry it. Better be green.

"Huangqiao" was harvested in the first ten days of 10 when the fruit was ripe and yellow and the shell cracked. Seeds (for seeds) and impurities are screened out and dried in the sun for thousands of years. The best color is yellow, thick shell and seedless.

[2] Zhang, Measures to Improve Fruit Setting Rate of Forsythia suspense, Chinese Herbal Medicine, (6), 1985.