The most miserable birth month for Snake people
Zhou Min
Arrowroot powder is now the "red" health product.
Not long ago, I went to Xin Street, Ciqikou Ancient Town, Chongqing with my friends, and I saw several small shops selling a kind of "Kudzu candy". When I used to work in Guangzhou, the local people loved to use fresh kudzu root to make Laohuo soup.
In the Chongqing area, the most common way to eat it is to drink soup made from kudzu root powder, just like the lotus root starch that is abundant in the Jiangnan area. My mother likes to drink a bowl in the morning to help lower blood pressure. I like to drink a bowl after eating hot pot or vegetables. It is both sweet and thirst-quenching. The most delicious arrowroot powder in my memory was eaten in Fenghuang Ancient Town in western Hunan. It was prepared and sold freshly, with a layer of crushed peanuts sprinkled on the surface, and the aroma was fragrant.
Arrowroot powder has very good health effects. Unless otherwise noted, the pictures in this article are all by Zhou Min
Autumn and winter are the best times to harvest fresh kudzu. A friend whose hometown is in a suburban county of Chongqing will bring me some authentic kudzu powder at this time every year. Arrowroot powder is also sold in the market, ranging from 30 yuan to 50 yuan per pound, but it is extremely difficult to buy the real thing. I heard from this friend who grew up in the countryside that digging kudzu (especially wild ones) is very hard and the process is quite tedious and time-consuming.
Pueraria montana (Pueraria montana) is a climbing vine belonging to the Fabaceae family.
A few years ago, I discovered wild kudzu vines in more than one place around my home - the community where my home is located was originally on the edge of the city and close to the countryside. It is easily recognized by its rust-colored hairy vines and three large, equally rough leaves.
When I went to Geleshan before the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, I happened to encounter the blooming kudzu. The vines climbed up the big tree and covered the sky. A few days ago, I made a special trip to a small free park near my home - it was originally a barren slope, and the hills were covered with kudzu. As expected, I saw bunches of kudzu flowers hidden among the rich green kudzu leaves.
Although there are many kudzu flowers in the small park, you still need luck to take a clear photo of kudzu flowers - they usually bloom on very high branches. On this day, I was lucky enough to find a bush that was just within reach and was able to appreciate its gorgeous beauty.
Kudzu flowers in autumn
The flowers of Kudzu are very beautiful. The florets are densely packed, with clusters of two or three flowers growing on the nodes of racemes. The color is beautiful, standard leguminous butterfly-shaped flower. There is also a bright color spot at the base of the flag petal, just like a beauty's "pretty eyes".
Racemes extend upright from the leaf axils.
Pueraria lobata, very beautiful.
However, this time I didn’t go just to see the flowers. Once I collected flower specimens on Gele Mountain. After dissecting and admiring them, I looked up the search table and was dumbfounded: There are several species of Kudzu, and one of the characteristics that determines the species is the shape of the stipules.
The stipules of the kudzu in the small park are long and oval, and the middle part is attached to the intersection with the petiole. It looks like a pair of clamps, protecting the petiole between them. This is the first time I have encountered stipules growing in this way. In botanical terms, it is called "stipules growing on the back (side)".
The stipules are carried on their backs, which is the most critical feature for identifying kudzu
This key feature is determined, plus the lowermost segment of the calyx is obviously longer than the side. The two characteristics of the lobes and the keel of the flower being longer than the wing petals were successfully identified, and this was Pueraria montana.
The keel petals of the flower are longer than the wing petals, and the lowermost calyx lobes are obviously longer than the lateral lobes
Pueraria lobata is an ancient plant native to China, and the Chinese are very fond of it. Plants are very affectionate. They not only eat them, but also use them as medicine, and use them to make fibers for clothes and ropes. This is a model of making the best use of everything.
Pueraria lobata has both medicinal and food uses. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies it as a medicine for dispersing wind and heat, which is what common people often call it for clearing away heat. According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Pueraria lobata has a sweet, pungent, flat, and non-toxic nature. It is mainly used to cure thirst, severe fever, and vomiting. It causes and relieves all the disadvantages." In addition to Pueraria lobata, Pueraria lobata flowers can also be used medicinally. They can be decoctioned in water and taken It can quench thirst and sober up alcohol.
Writer Acheng suffered from migraine, and the prescription given to him by a traditional Chinese medicine doctor included kudzu root. Acheng once went to the countryside in Yunnan and is very familiar with rural life. He has a rich perceptual understanding of Kudzu -
"Kudzu root is the kind of kudzu root whose skin can be woven into 'Kudzu cloth'. It can be loosened It is very effective in treating coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, and high blood pressure. If you are drunk after drinking alcohol, eating its flowers can relieve hangover. Drunkards in Venice may wish to try it. Hotels in Italy may also wish to sell this flower, and the wine will definitely sell. More."
"The root of another kind of kudzu has been used as food to survive the famine years since ancient times. When I was in Yunnan, people often dug it up in the mountains and cooked it. When eaten raw, it was sticky and ran like snot. , cooked, really delicious. Be careful about the Kudzu root. If you throw the cracked Kudzu root into the river, the fish will appear dead and float to the surface, and people will be happy. I originally thought that the Kudzu root will make the fish relax. , the water pressure stops the fish's internal circulation, and the fish dies due to lack of oxygen. In fact, it is not the stomach. So when digging the kudzu root, you should pay attention to it. If you eat the kudzu root, you will die if you eat it. /p>
Pueraria montana var.thomsonii is a variant of Kudzu. Nowadays, it is mainly cultivated. Its flowers are larger than Kudzu and it is the main type of Kudzu. Kudzu (Pueraria peduncularis), commonly known as Yunnan kudzu, is mainly wild in the southwest and Guangxi. One of its main features that distinguishes it from kudzu is the stipule base.
In "The Book of Songs: Illustrations of Famous Things", Kudzu was written and illustrated by Japanese Confucian scholar Hosoi Yuri in the Edo period. The original is now in the National Diet Library of Japan.
In addition to eating, kudzu fiber is one of the most important weaving raw materials in ancient times. The clothing of common people in ancient my country mainly consisted of three plant fibers, namely kudzu, ramie (ramie) and hemp (ramie). "The Book of Songs·Zhou Nan·Ge Tan" states: "The tan vines of kudzu are spreading, and they are applied to the middle valley to maintain the leaves. The yellow birds are flying, gathering in the shrubs, and they are singing. Mo. It’s the pruning and the harvesting, it’s the harvest, it’s the harvest, it’s the harvest, it’s the poem.”
"Qin" means spreading, "絺" means fine kudzu cloth, and "綌" means coarse kudzu cloth. Translated into modern language, a vivid scene of ancient life is vividly visible: the kudzu vine is so long Ah, in the valley spreading among the mountains, the lush leaves are green. Beautiful yellow warblers flew up from the valley, landed gently in the bushes, and sang so sweetly. The kudzu vines are so long, spreading in the valleys between mountains, and their mature leaves are lush and green. Cut it back and boil it in a pot. Weave it into fine or coarse cloth at will. It is really a lot of fun to wear it?
Kudzu, the most important clothing for civilians in ancient my country
Pinnate three leaflets, irregularly three-lobed. Many small leaves have been bitten by insects and have a hollow shape.
However, Kudzu, which has always been loved in China, received completely different treatment after it was introduced to the United States. British naturalist writer Richard Maby described this story in detail and vividly in "The Story of Weeds".
Kudzu first appeared in the United States at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, where exhibitors brought kudzu. The stand became popular, and American gardeners began growing kudzu as an ornamental plant. In the 1920s, a farm in Florida discovered that cows were eating kudzu vines, so they began to promote kudzu as feed. In 1935, the U.S. Federal Soil Conservation Association advocated widespread planting of kudzu in the South. As long as farmers planted kudzu on their own wasteland, they could receive a subsidy of eight dollars per acre for each species.
Unexpectedly, within a few years, people discovered that due to the lack of natural enemies, the kudzu vine had transformed into a terrifying "vine". In the book, Mabee vividly describes the super growth ability of kudzu in the United States: "During the peak growth season of kudzu, they can grow 30 centimeters in 12 hours. A popular joke in the southern states of the United States is that you must turn off the door when sleeping at night. Windows, or kudzu will creep in overnight. Abandoned buildings can quickly disappear under a thick layer of kudzu, and even entire native forests can be swallowed up by them. ”
United States. Writer Francis Lamm was also stunned by what he saw after arriving in Bama: "Kudzu grows on the wires, kudzu grows on the trees, kudzu grows on the house, and even kudzu grows on the kudzu vines. Every few minutes we You will see a field full of vines.
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Today, kudzu is not only known as “the most terrifying evil weed in the United States”, but also designated as a plant by the United States. In the United States, there is even a popular conspiracy theory, and people who believe in this statement firmly believe that , "The introduction of kudzu into the United States is an insidious plan by Japan to destroy the U.S. economy."
The endless kudzu vine
This story sounds like it. Like the modern version of "Southern Tangerine and Northern Orange". As Mabby said, even if a certain plant is gentle in nature, its behavior may change drastically once it is placed in a new environment.
That afternoon, while wandering in the small park, I gradually became aware of the silent and powerful aura it exuded. They entangled and climbed up when they encountered the trees, weaving a green forest on the treetops; There are some new twigs creeping and growing close to the ground, and clusters of fine roots grow out of their joints. From here, a new branch grows, and there are endless descendants.
Good at entwining and climbing
The knots take root and grow new branches quickly
Observe carefully. Looking at the kudzu vines in front of me, I once again thought of the words in "The Story of Weeds": "Behind civilization, wild nature never goes far away. ”
(Zhou Min, a senior media person, naturalist enthusiast, and now a freelancer. Participated in the compilation of "Understanding Chinese Plants in Southwest China", Personal: Plant Addict.)
Editor: Wang Yu
Proofreader: Luan Meng
The above is the content related to the most miserable birth month for Snake people. It is about the sharing of Kudzu after reading the taboo birth month of Snake. After a while, I hope this helps everyone!