The romance of solar terms can be felt when you go out

On the evening of the 4th, the Beijing Winter Olympics opened grandly. The opening ceremony coincided with the beginning of spring, and a three-and-a-half-minute solar term countdown video was also shot beautifully and romantically.

Spring Equinox: The spring breeze is like a distinguished guest, bringing prosperity as soon as it arrives.

Summer Solstice: The green bamboo still has some powder, and the round lotus begins to emit fragrance.

White Dew: The dew is white from tonight, and the moon is brighter in my hometown.

Among the 24 solar terms in a year, Lichun ranks first. "Li" means "beginning". At this time, some places may still be cold, but new vitality has begun to grow in the ice. @喵喵植物控, the author of the species calendar in Chengdu, once shared the scenery of Lichun. The romance of phenological changes and solar terms can be felt as soon as you step out of the door.

The above pictures are all screenshots from the countdown video of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony

After the Great Cold, spring begins.

From north to south, there is a Sha River that has been meandering around the east side of Chengdu for thousands of years.

The river flows quietly from the north to the east of the city, and the countless green spaces on both sides of the river form a green necklace. After the beginning of spring, there are usually a few days of bright sunshine after the rain. Therefore, people who were still complaining about the cold and wet winter in Chengdu a few days ago have come outdoors.

The cycle of phenology repeats itself, and it is another spring. On the day of the beginning of spring, who will represent the spring?

Riverside Willow

There are countless willow trees planted along the banks of Shahe River. Willow trees are extremely sensitive to seasonal changes: after the beginning of spring, when other deciduous trees are still sleeping, willow treetops quietly sprout buds; then, in the spring breeze of February, they quickly droop down thousands of green silk ribbons; in the gentle breeze of March, willow branches are like smoke on both sides of Jinjiang River. Willow trees faithfully record the entire spring of Chengdu with their graceful changes.

Willows by the Jinjiang River in Chengdu｜Miaomiao Plant Control

"At dawn, the willows on the long bridge are covered with mist." Long ago, the ancient Jiuyan Bridge in Chengdu spanned the Jinjiang River like a long rainbow lying on the waves. The Jiuyan Stone Bridge and the smoky willows on both sides of the river are also the symbols of Chengdu. There have been many rivers in the Chengdu Plain since ancient times. In order to retain water, the Shu people began to plant willows very early. The Yufu King of the ancient Shu Kingdom established his capital in the area of ​​Wenjiang District in Chengdu today. After he built his capital here, he planted willows extensively and called the royal city he built "Liucheng". Until today, "Liucheng" is still another name for Wenjiang.

"When I went there, the willow trees were swaying. When I come back, it is raining and snowing." Even though they are thousands of miles away, the graceful willow trees always represent the Chengdu people's longing for their homeland. In the eyes of many Chengdu people, the willow trees with their spreading crowns and drooping branches on the banks of the Jinjiang River have become an indelible landscape memory of the city.

Beauty plum

At the beginning of spring, plum blossoms begin to bloom on both sides of the Jinjiang River. Unlike the common plum blossoms that grow close to the stem, plum blossoms always have a long red pedicel, and the shape and color of the flowers are somewhat similar to those of the red-leaf plum blossoms that bloom later, but the petals are more complex and the flowers are much larger.

Their pink-purple flowers bloom before the leaves, and a plum tree is like a graceful fairy descending from the earth, with pink-purple petals and deep red centers, and each flower is shy and lovely. The beauty plum was first bred by French gardeners through artificial distant hybridization of purple-leaf plum and double-petal plum variety "Palace Pink".

Beauty plum｜Wendy Cutler / Flickr

In addition to its beautiful flowers, the biggest feature of the plum tree is its strong cold resistance and long flowering period. After the flowering period, the plum tree will grow purple-red leaves like the purple-leaf plum, and it is also a colorful leaf tree species.

Malus truncatum

The crabapple trees in Chengdu have also quietly blossomed. "Thousands of scarlet Sichuan crabapples, who will pity their weeping makeup in the rain?" Lu You, who loved crabapples, wrote countless crabapple poems in Chengdu. However, the scarlet and bright green of this tree in the poem refers to the crabapple tree of the genus Chaenomeles.

Malus chinensis is also called wrinkled papaya｜Shimizusatsuki / wikimedia

In the "Qunfangpu", the ancients included this plant of the genus Papaya among the "Four Types of Begonias" - although the "Stemmed Begonia" is named Begonia, it is not a Begonia of the genus Malus.

Spring in Chengdu always comes suddenly, and it is hard to remember exactly when spring begins each year. However, when the plum blossoms and crabapple trees on both sides of the Jinjiang River are in full bloom, Chengdu will usher in the most beautiful spring season.

Secrets in the Grass

The green land beside the Shahe River hides many secrets of spring. If you pay attention to your feet, you will find many small surprises.

The blue dots of Arabian Veronica began to dot the lawn. The inconspicuous white flowers of chickweed also appeared at my feet. The Chinese buttercup and the snakeberry spit out small yellow flowers. A solitary long-calyx violet tried hard to bloom a shy purple flower in the cracks of the lawn path.

Arabian Veronica｜Etiaetia1020 / wikimedia

So, the lawn that seemed a little lonely a few days ago suddenly became lively overnight because of these uninvited flowers. At this time of year, I always look for a kind of lovely pink and purple flowers in the grass by the river. Because I always feel that it is they who quietly bring the message of spring to this city.

It is Corydalis, an annual gray-green herb. Most of the time, we always ignore them, even when they bloom, we still turn a blind eye. So, if we want to find a symbol of spring in Chengdu that is right beside us but is inadvertently ignored by us - the kind that is both familiar and unfamiliar - I think this cute pink Corydalis can definitely be selected.

Corydalis｜Aqiao HQ / Flickr

Corydalis is never absent

Corydalis is a plant of the genus Corydalis in the family Papaveraceae. This genus is distributed along the northern temperate zone and has many members, with more than 300 members in my country. Many unique wild Corydalis plants live in the southwestern mountains around the Chengdu Plain. Many Corydalis plants are stunningly beautiful and have a variety of dreamy and gorgeous colors. In the flora, most of them are named Corydalis, such as Corydalis edulis, Corydalis edulis, Corydalis edulis, etc. Among the hundreds of different Corydalis plants, the one that appears on the lawn of the Shahe River Park in Chengdu in early spring is Corydalis edulis.

If you look closely at the small flowers of Corydalis, you will find that they are shaped like birds. The small flowers are extremely delicate and elegant in both shape, structure and color. Corydalis has four small petals, arranged in two circles, the upper and lower petals of the outer circle and the inner circle of petals form a pink little mouth; the upper petals extend backward to form a small tail, which is a cylindrical hollow structure called "spur". There are nectar glands that secrete nectar, so when Corydalis blooms in large areas, it always attracts many bees to visit.

The small tail of Corydalis｜pai8.org

Although the colors and shapes of Corydalis flowers vary, most of them have "spurs" formed by the upper petals, which is also one of the most important identification characteristics of Corydalis plants.

The Corydalis uses its dreamy pink color to attract bees, who are good at visual perception. These buzzing pollinators always appear in the city in spring. They drill into the pollination channel between the upper and lower petals of the Corydalis and suck the nectar in the "spur". In this process, the Corydalis uses honey as a reward, and the bees help the Corydalis pollinate.

Corydalis yanhusuo (left) and Coptis chinensis (right), both of the genus Corydalis｜arudhio / Flickr; Σ64 / wikimedia

Who is willing to do it?

The Book of Songs says, "The violet is as sweet as honey." "Violet" is the same as "celery" in ancient times. The bipinnately divided leaves of Violet are indeed somewhat similar to celery leaves. It is said that in ancient times, Violet was eaten by hungry people as a bitter wild vegetable, but it tasted as sweet as honey, perhaps the ancients deliberately concealed it. This is also the origin of the idiom "甘之如饴".

In the era of food scarcity, the bitter Corydalis was once regarded as a wild vegetable to fill the stomach. In different places, it also had various nicknames with "vegetable". Su Song, a naturalist in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote: "Corydalis grows in Wuxing County in the south of the Yangtze River, is called Chukui in Huainan, is called Shuqin in Yichun County, is called Taicai in Yuzhang County, and is called Shuibucai in Jinling County."

However, the wild vegetable Corydalis is also known as Gelsemium elegans, Scorpion Flower, and Stifled Flower. They contain a variety of alkaloids that can cause human poisoning, and excessive consumption can cause poisoning and death. Whether it is to fill the stomach, sharpen the will, or simply to taste the gift of spring, we no longer need to eat Corydalis. In the sunshine of early spring, after a cold winter, perhaps only the bees flying up and down among the Corydalis flowers will truly enjoy this "sweet" feeling.

Little cutie in spring｜Meow Meow Plant Lover

Corydalis never misses the spring in Chengdu. Whenever spring comes, Corydalis will compete to bloom cute little flowers. However, because they are always hiding in the lawn, even if a small Corydalis blooms, it is not tall and it is difficult to attract our attention.

Only when a large field of corydalis suddenly appears before your eyes will your eyes light up. You will find that they are blooming with pink and purple flowers, one after another, competing with each other, like a group of birds, scrambling to fly out of the lawn, cheering to you: Spring is here! Spring is here!

Author: Meow Meow Plant Control

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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