Don't buy this kind of dried flowers for indoor decoration! It's illegal!

During the New Year, everyone likes to buy some New Year flowers to decorate their homes. Dried flower branches have become a star product in recent years because of their unique artistic sense and the magical performance of dead trees coming back to life. So, what are the dried flower branches we can buy on the market, and what should we pay attention to when buying them?

01

Don't buy "dry branch azalea"

The Dahurian Rhododendron was once a star among dried branch flowers. After years of large-scale collection, the wild population of this plant is facing a great threat to its survival.

Although azalea is a traditional star flower in my country, historically, the Xing'an azalea was not a flower plant that attracted human attention. Just over ten years ago, the Xing'an azalea was still an unknown wild flower, just an actor in the spring flower sea in Northeast my country.

In theory, the Rhododendron dasyphyllum should not be an endangered plant because it is highly adaptable and widely distributed. There are a large number of wild Rhododendron dasyphyllum in the Greater Khingan Range area of ​​Heilongjiang, Jilin and many places in Inner Mongolia. In foreign countries, Rhododendron dasyphyllum is also distributed in Mongolia, Russia, North Korea and Japan. What people never expected was that a unique performance of "blooming on a dead branch" brought disaster to this plant.

At present, the Dahurian rhododendron has been included in the list of national key protected wild plants, with a protection level of Level 2. Collecting, selling and purchasing wild Dahurian rhododendron will violate the criminal law.

02

Spiraea spicata, snow willow is not willow

In addition to the dry branch azalea, the dry branch flowers commonly known as "snow willow" and "spraying snowflakes" are also popular in the market. Although they are called willows, they are not willows, but plants of the genus Spiraea in the Rosaceae family. They are named because of their slender and flexible branches, slender leaves like willow leaves, and white flowers like snow. If we look closely at their flowers, we will find that these flowers have five petals and many stamens, just like a smaller version of roses.

The spiraea family is a large family in the Rosaceae family. The genus has more than 100 species of plants, and there are more than 50 species in my country. Many of them have become common ornamental shrubs cultivated in gardens. Common ornamental species include spiraea, pink spiraea and pearl spiraea, which are all frequent visitors in the garden.

It is a good thing that Spiraea can jump out of the garden and become a star fresh cut flower. However, it is still worth noting the source of these Spiraea. Developing horticultural cultivation and protecting wild Spiraea resources are the key to solving the supply problem.

03

Silver willow, willow buds wearing thick coats

Silver willow is the most common dried flower branch on the market. It is named because there is a thick layer of silvery-white hair on its buds, but the silver willow buds we usually see are dyed in various colors, and some merchants even claim that these buds are originally colorful.

The fluffy coat on the silver willow buds is not a decoration to please humans, but a magic weapon for them to survive in nature. Silver willow is a plant that blooms in early spring. In order to gain precious time, it needs to store nutrients in the buds before flowering, so that when the weather warms up, it can bloom in a short time.

The type of "clothing" of the buds represents the origin of many plants. For example, the buds of the silver willow, which originated in the north, are covered with furry "fur coats", while the buds of the willow, which originated in the warmer areas of the south, have only a thin scale on them, just like a single-layer jacket. The difference in cold resistance between the two is obvious at a glance, and this is the mark left by natural selection on plants.

Similar to the Salicaceae, the Magnoliaceae also appears. Magnolias living in the north have winter buds that are like brush tips, and the buds are covered with fluffy scales, which can play a good role in keeping warm; while Michelia living in the south has a much thinner coat, with only some sparse fluff on the outer covering of the buds.

04

Wintersweet, dry branches send out a faint fragrance

Wintersweet is a dried branch flower that has become popular in the past two years. If you buy dried wintersweet and soak it in water, after a period of time, it will bloom into flowers as colorful as beeswax, with a lingering fragrance.

The name of wintersweet is often mistakenly written as "Lamei". Some people believe that the flowering season of wintersweet is in the cold winter. However, wintersweet is not the only plant that blooms in the cold winter. For example, the famous loquat also blooms at this time. Therefore, it is more appropriate to choose "La" as the name of wintersweet.

As for the difference between wintersweet and plum blossom, it is also very obvious. As a member of the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family, plum blossom has dozens of stamens, while its little brother, the genus Chimonanthus in the Chimonanthus family, has only five or six stamens. This alone makes it easy to distinguish between plum blossom and wintersweet. However, compared with plum blossom, the fragrance of wintersweet is stronger. Wintersweet has the reputation of "one flower with fragrance ten miles away".

05

Why can dead branches bloom?

Flowers before leaves are an ecological adaptation feature of many plants. For example, magnolia, wintersweet, poplar and most cherry blossoms bloom before leaves grow.

Note that for flowering plants that need insect pollination, pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies are also resources they need to compete for, so increasing the display as much as possible to attract pollinators is what plants must do. Flowering first and then growing leaves can expose the flowers to the pollinators as much as possible, so that it is possible to attract more pollinating insects, and naturally more fruits and seeds can be harvested.

Even plants that do not need insects have the habit of blooming before growing leaves. For example, hazelnuts and poplars bloom before growing leaves. This is because this can minimize the obstruction of leaves to pollen to the greatest extent, allowing the pollen to float smoothly to the stigma of the pistil, greatly improving the utilization efficiency of the pollen.

The flowers and leaves grow at different times, and there is also Lycoris. Every autumn, the fiery red Lycoris flowers suddenly emerge from the ground. Because the flowering time is close to the Zhongyuan Festival, these flowers evoke many associations and are named "Bianhua". In fact, Lycoris is not without leaves, but the flowers and leaves do not grow at the same time.

06

Things to note when buying dried flowers

First of all, you should pay attention to safety, especially when there are children and pets at home, you should be especially careful with these special flowers because many dried flowers are poisonous in themselves, and wintersweet and azalea contain specific alkaloids, which can cause nausea, vomiting and other discomfort symptoms if ingested by mistake.

Furthermore, we must pay attention to the sources of dried branches and flowers. Because many dried branches and flowers are collected from the wild, and dried branches and flowers are basically disposable, years of excessive collection will greatly damage wild plant resources. Don't underestimate the impact of this collection. The wild Rhododendron daxinganling, which was originally rich in resources, has been drastically reduced in just over a decade after being overexploited and plundered. Therefore, we must pay attention to protecting our green friends.

Author: Shi Jun

Review | Wang Kang, Director of the North Science Museum of the National Botanical Garden, Professor-level Senior Engineer