During the Qingming outing, you will definitely see them at your feet

The Qingming Festival holiday is here. Originated from the 24 solar terms, the Qingming Festival has been constantly evolving for thousands of years, and customs and activities, including farming, sacrifices, and entertainment (you read that right), have also been changing. Today, the main activities of the Qingming Festival are basically two: tomb sweeping and outings - these two activities are often carried out at the same time.

The popularity of customs such as planting willows is not as high as tomb sweeping and outing | The Sourcing Blog

Whether visiting the graves or going out for a walk, all you see is a sea of ​​green, dotted with red, blue, yellow and purple. The newly sprouted spring grass is full of vitality at this moment, which is a visual and olfactory enjoyment for the visitors; but for the grave-sweepers, they need to spend a lot of effort to remove them, otherwise the grave area will look barren and messy. Moreover, clearing the weeds on the graves has a practical effect, so that the grave area will not be affected when the fields are burned.

In ancient times, tomb sweeping and burning paper money also required weed removal | The Sourcing Blog

However, "wildfires cannot burn them all, spring breezes blow and they grow again." Whether you weed or burn the fields, the next year you will still see the same spring grass, still full of green. You may have seen them for many years, but still don't know what they are called. Today we will introduce some weeds that can be seen in the wild during the Qingming Festival.

Caryophyllaceae

In warm regions, Stellaria media of the Caryophyllaceae family can be evergreen all year round, and it blooms sporadically as early as February when the ice and snow freeze over. It blooms in March, and when it blooms, the numerous white flowers look like stars all over the ground. In fact, its genus name also means star.

Chickweed like stars all over the ground | Frost moth

The stems of Chickweed are long and dense, and they are good at crawling all over the ground. They have strong covering power. The stems are hollow and break easily when pulled. They are tangled and difficult to remove, and very annoying, so they are called "Fanlu".

Plantaginaceae

Veronica persica is a common wildflower in spring. The blue flowers are cute, but they are fragile and fall off when touched. Veronica persica is an alien naturalized plant that is not very invasive and has average spreading ability. It lives in peace with many native weeds and can form a nice flower carpet when in full bloom.

The Arabian Veronica with a cute name and cute appearance | plantsam.com

Cruciferae

Orychophragmus violaceus sometimes sprouts in autumn and spends the winter as basal leaves. Its common name is February Blue, but it can bloom until the third month of the lunar calendar. The dense purple flowers can form a spectacular sea of ​​flowers, making it an excellent flower ornamental plant for graves that people are reluctant to remove.

In fact, ophiopogon japonicus is also an excellent spring urban wild flower. It has strong reproductive ability and a high seed germination rate, and can grow in brick joints and wall cracks.

Purple February Blue | Frost Moth

When people see the flowers of Rorippa indica, they may mistake it for some wild mustard or rapeseed, because they both have the highly recognizable yellow four-petal flowers of the Cruciferae family, and the leaves are also similar, so it is very difficult to differentiate them.

Does it look like mustard greens? | Frost moth

There aren't usually a lot of shepherd's purse, with only a few scattered around an area, and they grow quite normally, so you won't have any regrets even if you pull them out.

Leguminosae

Vicia faba, a vegetable, blooms in February here, while its two weed relatives bloom in March and April. The flowers of V. sativa are very interesting, with two deep purple wing petals and a wide flag petal, which looks like a face with red lips. V. cracca often grows with the former, but blooms later and is larger. The purple flowers form a series of racemes, which is also very ornamental. But the leaves with tendrils will make it crawl everywhere, and it has a strong covering power.

Saving Wild Peas (left) and Widespread Vetch (right) | Frost Moth

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbia helioscopia was a weed I loved to play with when I was little. I would pull it apart and use the latex inside to smear ants. The latex is toxic and will cause redness and swelling if it touches the skin, but I have forgotten whether I was poisoned by it when I was little.

The inflorescence of the lacquer tree is very distinctive | Frost moth

The inflorescence of the Rhizoma Zelacis Glabrae has five petals and broad bracts, so it is commonly known as "five clouds". It looks like one flower, but the real flower is actually very small.

Boraginaceae

The flowers of chickweed and speedwell are already small enough, and the flowers of Trigonotis peduncularis are even smaller, only three or four millimeters in size. If you want to take a clear picture, you have to lie on the ground and use a macro lens, but most people probably have no interest in this kind of miniature flower, and they just ignore it when they see it. In fact, if you look closely, Trigonotis peduncularis is still very delicate, with five yellow appendages at the throat of the corolla. Many flowers of the Boraginaceae family look like this, and if you want to break it down, you have to look at the shape of the fruit.

Tiny ground vegetables | Frost moth

Lamiaceae

Due to its structure, there are not many beautiful flowers in the Lamiaceae family, and Lamium amplexicaule is one of them. The leaves are stacked like pavilions and canopies, and several slender purple-red corollas emerge from the middle. The end suddenly becomes larger and is divided into upper and lower lips. The lower lip extends outward. From the side, it looks like a small animal sticking out its tongue, or a little man with his arms outstretched, but from the front, it looks like a terrified face.

Lamium sutchuenensis of the Lamiaceae family | Frost moth

Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae is my favorite family. There are basically no flowers with bad looks in this family, and most of them are poisonous. They are all "femme fatales". Cat's claw (Ranunculus ternatus) likes to bloom in patches in the shade of the mountains and forests, but the flowering period is very short, which is a characteristic of spring understory plants: if you go to see flowers this week, you may only see the aggregate fruits like meteor hammers next week. Its basal leaves are shaped like cat's claws, but it is not easy to find.

Cat's claw is an early spring ephemeral plant | Frost moth

Another Ranunculaceae plant is even bigger and more eye-catching - Pulsatilla chinensis. It is a sun-loving alpine plant and is relatively rare here. Because of its bright colors, tourists who are not careful will inevitably pluck it. Those blue-purple petal-like structures are actually sepals. If you are lucky enough to survive to the fruiting period, you can see the origin of its name - many achenes with long hairs gather together to form a big hairy ball like a white-haired witch. Some plants of the genus Clematis also have such big hairy balls during the fruiting period.

This is a completely different style of painting from the flower I mentioned earlier | Frost Moth

Primulaceae

Not all Primulaceae bloom in spring, but they are definitely a must-have wildflower in spring. The flowers of Androsace umbellata are very small, and there is also a circle of light yellow at the throat to attract insects. Nowadays, Androsace umbellata is more common in cities. Its flowers are five-petaled and resemble plum blossoms. When they bloom, they cover the lawn like stars and dot the ground. Androsace is a large genus, but most of them are found in the alpine environments of the northwest and southwest. This is the only one that can be seen in the eastern region. Another Primulaceae plant that blooms at the same time is Lysimachia candida.

Prunella vulgaris (left) and Loosestrife (right) | Frost moth

Oxalidaceae

Oxalis corniculata is probably the most common weed. It can be found everywhere, all year round, in cities and fields. The three small leaves are often seen as a substitute for clover. Although the yellow flowers are attractive, they are annoying to weeders. The main roots are deep and difficult to pull out, and the stems will crawl everywhere and take root everywhere. The fruits will explode when touched, and the seeds will be scattered everywhere. It has strong reproductive capacity and vitality.

Oxalis, you may also see it in your own flower pots | Frost moth

Rosaceae

Duchesnea indica is almost as common as Oxalis, but it seems to be less contagious. In addition to the flowers, the strawberry-like fruit is also very beautiful. It is said that this fruit is poisonous because it has been crawled by snakes. In fact, it will only make your stomach slightly uncomfortable, and it is not delicious.

Snakeberry with small yellow flowers | Frost moth

The most recognizable part of the flower of snakeberry is its three-lobed epicalyx. Potentilla plants such as Potentilla discolor that bloom at the same time also have an epicalyx, but it is not three-lobed.

Comparison of the epicalyx of Potentilla (left) and Duchesnea indica (right). The closest circle is the epicalyx | biol.tsukuba.ac.jp

Violaceae

Viola is also a large genus that blooms all year round. Most of them are purple. Although the flowers are small, they are complex and delicate in structure. The base of the petals forms a spur that extends backwards and contains nectar glands. It is a typical insect-pollinated flower. Viola plants that bloom in spring include early-blooming violets (Viola prionantha), long-calyx violets (V. inconspicua), and Viola philippica (V. philippica). How to distinguish these violets is a very headache. I recommend a book "Violas: From Getting Started to Giving Up" (wrong).

I don't recommend trying to tell it apart, just know that it looks like this and it's a violet. Image: Frost moth

Asteraceae

When we were young, we believed that dandelions (Taraxacum mongolicum) were little paratroopers, taking root wherever they flew. When they flew to the fields, the yellow flowers could add to the wildness; but when they flew to the garden, they would become a horticultural cancer. Its radish roots can penetrate very deep into the soil, and I have never even dug up a complete root. If the roots are broken when weeding, each piece will grow into a brand new horticultural cancer. Not to mention the paratroopers, although their spread speed is not that fast, they penetrate deeply and stand firmly, and it is only a matter of time before they occupy a piece of land. To deal with this chrysanthemum plant that cannot be stepped on, the only way is to seek chemical weapons.

The "little paratrooper" dandelion becomes a new chrysanthemum in the second year | Frost moth

Other Asteraceae plants that bloom at the same time include Youngia japonica, but the plants are thin and weak and are easier to remove.

Yellow quail grass. Can anyone explain the difference between these small yellow flowers in the Asteraceae family? | Flower View

Sanko

I often see Broussonetia papyrifera on wild graves in the mountains. I don't know why they like this environment. Broussonetia papyrifera is also adapted to urban environments and can grow to a large size in cracks in walls. Plants in the mulberry family don't have very pretty flowers, but they often have delicious fruits. The fruit of the Broussonetia papyrifera is commonly known as "Broussonetia papyrifera". It is bright red and very attractive. When I was a child, I often picked it to eat. I have forgotten whether it tasted good or not, but it is said that those fruits have been tasted by many insects before they were picked.

Flowering "male" paper mulberry | Frost moth

The vibrant wild flowers of spring are uplifting, but the late spring when the camellia flowers fade brings with them an infinite sense of sadness - the flowers may bloom again next year, but those who sleep in eternity will never wake up again.

Of the two activities of Qingming Festival, tomb sweeping can be seen as a kind of communication with the deceased, while outing makes those still alive feel the power of life. Isn't the combination of life and death just like the lush spring flowers on a lonely grave in the wild?

“Death is not the opposite of life, but exists forever as a part of life.”

Author: Frost Moth

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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