Have you ever noticed the snowy wintersweet on campus?
Perhaps only in the cold winter, when it exudes a refreshing fragrance, do you notice its existence. Wintersweet has a unique way of making people unforgettable.
Wintersweet is also called wax plum, and was originally called yellow plum blossom. There are two kinds of allusions to the name "Wangmei". One theory is that a kind of sacrifice in December in ancient times was called "Wax". At that time, the end of the year was the month when great sacrifices were held, so the twelfth lunar month was called the Wax Moon. The wax plum blossoms bloomed in the Wax Moon, hence the name. Another story is that when Su Dongpo, a literary giant of the generation, and his friend were visiting Huangshan Valley, they discovered that yellow plum blossoms resembled beeswax, and said that their "smell is like plum blossoms, made by twisting wax by female workers", so they named it "Wangmei". It was noisy for a while and flourished in the capital. The word " wax " was used in the Zhou Dynasty, and the word " wax " was used in the Qin Dynasty. Because the word " wax " for wax moon and wax plum can be used interchangeably with the word " wax ", so wax plum and winter plum can be used interchangeably.
There are roughly four types of wintersweet. The first is wintersweet, which is named because its flowers bloom in the shape of a tiger's hoof, with purple-red stamens and fragrant smell; the second is wintersweet, because when the flowers bloom, the pedicles are upward and the flower opening is downward, shaped like an upside-down golden bell. The third one is chime-mouthed wintersweet, so named because its flowers bloom half-open and half-closed, resembling the mouth of the "chime" used by Buddhists; the fourth one is plain-heart wintersweet, because its flower core is white, the petals are round, and the flowers are light in color. It is named after its yellow color. The wintersweet flowers in our school are like hanging golden bells. The petals are not like tiger hooves, and the stamens are still yellow. There is no purple red or white color. They should be either bell wintersweet or chime-kou wintersweet.
People often mistake wintersweet for plum blossoms. In fact, wintersweet and plum blossoms have almost no genetic relationship. Wintersweet is a shrub and plum blossom is a tree. Wintersweet has a simple color, with red, pink and white plum blossoms, which are rich and colorful. Wintersweet blooms in midwinter, and plum blossoms bloom in early spring. The fragrance of wintersweet spreads far and wide, and the fragrance of plum blossoms surrounds you.
In traditional Chinese culture, although there are differences between the two, they are sometimes confused with one another. In Lu Haipo's "Snow Plum" of the Southern Song Dynasty, "the plum blossoms are three cents whiter than the snow, but the snow loses the fragrance of the plum blossoms" refers to wintersweet. , in the ancient poem "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold", wintersweet should be called plum blossoms.
The wintersweet, proud of the snow, blooms in the mid-winter when the flowers have withered, fighting the cold and frost, tenacious and unyielding. "The jasper on the horizontal branches is naturally thin, and the broken gold is particularly fragrant." It is light yellow with snow, frozen berries with frost, and has a strong and clear aroma, gorgeous but not vulgar, which makes people feel relaxed and happy. The wintersweet is as aloof as the autumn chrysanthemum and as determined as the summer lotus, but it is also humble and intelligent, and can handle the wind and snow calmly, inheriting the fine spirit of the Chinese nation. How can it be compared with the plum blossom that wins only by its beauty.