Zhuge Cai's flower language is not forgetting history and cherishing peace.
Orychophragmus violaceus 10-50 cm high and hairless; The stem is solitary, erect, slightly branched at the base or upper part, light green or purplish.
The basal leaves and the lower stem leaves of Orychophragmus violaceus are pinnately divided, with the top lobes nearly round or short oval, 3-7 cm long and 2-3.5 cm wide, with blunt tips and blunt teeth at the heart-shaped base, and 2-6 pairs of side lobes, oval or triangular oval, 3- 10 mm long, getting smaller as they go down, with occasional micro-lobes mixed on the leaf axis. The upper leaves are oblong or narrowly ovate, 4-9 cm long, sharp at the top, ear-shaped at the base, gripped by stalks and with irregular teeth at the edge.
Zhuge Liang's inflorescence is umbrella-shaped with lavender petals; Calyx and petals are oblong or oblong obovate, about 65438±0cm long, and petals are purple or purple-blue; The pod is 7- 10 cm long, with 4 edges, and the petal has a 1 protruding middle ridge; Pedicel 8- 15 mm long. Seeds ovate to oblong, ca. 2 mm long, slightly flat, dark brown, with longitudinal stripes. The flowering period is April-May and the fruiting period is May-June.
Orychophragmus violaceus is mainly distributed in northeast, north, northwest and east China of China. It grows at an altitude of 50-3200m.
Orychophragmus violaceus is an important wild vegetable and honey source plant, and its young leaves and underground parts are edible. During the Japanese occupation, because of poverty and lack of food in Taiwan Province Province, they would go to the suburbs to eat wild plants to satisfy their hunger, and this kind of plant was Zhuge Cai. Taiwan Province people call it "Kongming Cuisine", which means "Mr. Kongming" (Zhuge Liang). According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, when Zhuge Liang led his army to conquer Menghuo in Nanman, he found that this wild vegetable could be eaten locally during the war, so he sent troops to dig wild vegetables to satisfy his hunger. When the local people saw it, they all said that it was "Zhuge Cai", which was dug by Zhuge Liang and the people. Later, in order to commemorate Mr. Zhuge Liang, people named it "Zhuge Cai", also known as "Zijin Grass".
In addition to being a wild vegetable, Orychophragmus violaceus has high medicinal value. Its whole grass can be used for hemostasis, pain relief, traumatic injury, scald and fire injury, detoxification and other effects. In traditional Chinese medicine, Zhuge Cai is called "Jin Chuang Cao", which has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials, stopping bleeding and reducing swelling.
In addition, Orychophragmus violaceus is an important ornamental plant. Its purplish red, beautiful flowers and umbels have high ornamental value. It can be used in flower beds, flower borders, lawns, forest margins and other places in gardens, and can also be planted as ground cover plants on forest margins, lawns and rivers.
In a word, Orychophragmus violaceus is a plant with high ecological, edible and medicinal values. At the same time, it is also a symbol for people to commemorate historical figures and cherish peace.