Bean, I am the meat that grows from the ground! (Part 1)

The hemp leaves are layered and the ramie leaves are shining, someone's house is boiling cocoons and the whole village is filled with the fragrance.

The silk-spinning lady whispers sweetly across the fence.

He holds his white walking stick and raises his drunken eyes, and pounds the green flour to soften his hungry stomach.

Asked when the bean leaves will turn yellow.

Do you know why the Leguminosae family is called "bean"? Let Xiao Yuan tell you.

When talking about beans, most foodies will immediately think of soybeans, broad beans, peas, tofu pudding, Changsha stinky tofu, and the spicy dried tofu that is refreshing and unforgettable! Pay attention! Your mouth is watering! There are many kinds of beans and bean products in our lives. Our traditional Chinese saying is "the five grains are good for nourishment, but without beans, it is bad."

The oracle bone script of the word "dou" is a pictographic character, which looks like a shallow plate with a high foot, and the top horizontal line represents its lid. In fact, from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, "dou" was a kind of container used to hold pickles, meat sauce and other condiments, rather than referring to the plant beans. After the Warring States Period, people used the word "dou" to replace the word "shu" in the five grains to represent bean crops and their fruits. From then on, the meaning of "dou" changed and became the legume plant we are familiar with today.

Leguminosae is the third largest family of angiosperms after Asteraceae and Orchidaceae, containing about 791 genera and 19,325-19,560 species, many of which have important economic value. Although leguminous plants have a variety of flower shapes, they only have one type of fruit, which is "pod". **Here comes the key point again! Pods are fruits developed from a single carpel,** and when mature, they split along the ventral and dorsal sutures, and the pericarp splits into two pieces. But some do not split when mature. When some pods mature, they break in sections between seeds, each section contains 1 seed, and do not split. Some pods are spiral-shaped, and some pods are fleshy and bead-like. Wow, this is too diverse, I feel dizzy!! Don't worry, there are a large group of leguminous brothers and sisters on our campus, waiting to meet you.

Now, please allow our brothers and sisters of the leguminous woody plants on campus to come and introduce themselves to everyone one by one!

First, the tree with velvety flowers and feathery leaves is the Albizia Julibrissin . Have you ever noticed that the leaves of the Albizia Julibrissin can "sleep" at night? Hey, which magical tree is this? Don't worry, look at the picture below. Hey! It turns out to be this tree. It seems that I have taken shelter under this tree before.

The pods of Albizia julibrissin Durazz. are flat and ribbon-shaped. When the fruit is ripe, it will split along the ventral and dorsal sutures, and the peel will split into two pieces. Do you know why? Do they look like small ribbons hanging on the tree? Its seeds are hidden in the uneven places of these ribbons. The winter wind is not gentle at all, blowing the small ribbons and making a rustling sound. Soon the ribbons will burst open, and the small seeds can't wait to scatter to find new territories.

Sophora japonica Linn. is the most common tree on campus. You can see it on both sides of the roads on campus. When you mention Sophora japonica, you will definitely say confidently, isn’t it just a Sophora japonica tree? I ate its sweet flowers when I was a child. Alas... I am sorry to inform you that you are wrong! This Sophora japonica is not that Sophora japonica.

The sophora japonica here is also called the Chinese Sophora japonica. Its pods are beaded, fleshy, with constricted seeds, and do not crack when mature . The sophora japonica flowers you eat are actually the flowers of another species, Robinia pseudoacacia Linn., which we usually call Robinia pseudoacacia flowers. The pods of Robinia pseudoacacia are flat and oblong, and they will crack when mature. They belong to the Sophora japonica and Robinia pseudoacacia genera, which are actually different branches of the Leguminosae family. You can easily distinguish them by the fruits.

Another legume plant, Wisteria sinensis (Sims) Sweet, grows near the campus corridor. Compared with other legumes, Wisteria sinensis is a relatively "lazy" one, and needs to cling to other plants or corridors to grow upward. In autumn, bean pods will hang from the branches. The pods of Wisteria sinensis are oblanceolate, and the surface is covered with dense fluff , just like putting a thick plush coat on the seeds to help them resist the cold. But once the right time comes, the pods will automatically crack open, and the seeds inside will be ejected.

On the south side of the Wisteria Corridor are two Gleditsia sinensis Lam., which is also a tall tree of the Leguminosae family. "Gleditsia" means black, and "Gleditsia" refers to black pods. When the Gleditsia fruit is ripe, the fruit is brown-black in color, long and flat in shape, mostly twisted, and not cracked . The juice of the Gleditsia fruit can be used to wash silk and wool clothes instead of soap.

After getting to know the five big friends of the Leguminosae woody plants on campus, are you eager to get to know the little friends of the Leguminosae herbaceous plants? Please look forward to the next issue - the fruits of the herbaceous Leguminosae!