Pingping is more than thirteen years old, and the cardamom leaves are in early February.
The spring breeze is ten miles away on Yangzhou Road, and it is not as good as rolling up the bead curtain.
In the famous poem "Farewell" by Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu, a beautiful thirteen-year-old girl was compared to cardamom. Due to the widespread influence of Du Mu's poem, later generations developed the term "cardamom age" to describe the shy and beautiful thirteen-year-old girl. Like most Chinese plant culture, cardamom, a little-known plant, also became famous in history because of a famous work by a poet.
In ancient times south of the Yangtze River, rural people liked to plant spice crops in their family yards. The fruits, such as grass fruits and red cardamom, were not only used as medicine to treat weak spleen and stomach and lack of appetite, but also could be used as medicine. Spices, used in daily cooking. Nowadays, many people in the Dai villages in Xishuangbanna still grow red cardamom and use it as a condiment. Although beautiful and used medicinally, alpine is rarely used for daily consumption, so it is likely to be grown in small quantities. Therefore, the accumulation of knowledge and emotions about cardamom among ordinary people is likely to come from red cardamom, which can be used as both medicine and food. The Compendium of Materia Medica, compiled in the Song Dynasty, also regarded cardamom as red cardamom, saying, "Southerners often pick it as a fruit. The tender ones are especially valuable, and they are pickled with salt." The edible value of red cardamom is emphasized.
When later generations interpreted the word "cardamom" in Du Mu's poems, orthodox people mostly emphasized the implicit poetic image of cardamom, believing that cardamom sticks to branches and is in bud, just like a young girl. Although red cardamom does not look amazing in appearance, it is bright red on the inside and expresses the meaning of lovesickness. Among the people, or for those who are uninhibited, there is another view. They not only borrowed the meaning of lovesickness from red cardamom, but also regarded the unique two red petal structures of red cardamom as virgins, so they joked with each other and had fun. The red cardamom flower is not amazing in appearance, but it has a refreshing fragrance. What is strange is that outside the petals and nectaries, there are two opposite red structures. It is not only regarded by the people as a symbol of love, but also known as the "pregnant flower". Used to describe girls. To put it bluntly, the folk actually refer to the unique structure of red cardamom red, which is compared to the private parts or virginity (which happens to be consistent with a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl). When men and women are flirting, it can only increase their interest. The romantic and suave Du Mu, when he was in the south of the Yangtze River, had a difficult official career and often visited brothels. I must understand all kinds of flirting words and folk sayings.
As a kind of plant culture, the culture carried by red cardamom can be interpreted in many ways. To this day, there is no need to hide anything. Put red cardamom under a microscope and magnify its "red heart" feature, and you can understand the folk culture of making jokes, which is straightforward and interesting. At the same time, it also adds a lot of color to a plant like cardamom, which is not astonishing in appearance.
In fact, there is a unique shape and reproductive strategy behind the flowers of cardamom. The so-called red heart is actually a symbol of the red cardamom nectary, which can guide pollinators to land on the flower correctly and enter the nectary to feed, taking away pollen or pollination. Red cardamom not only has a wonderful cultural story, but also has a unique style curling reproduction method. The flowers on red cardamom inflorescences open one after another. When a single flower opens in the morning, the pollen is mature and the stamens are upward. Carpenter bees will visit when they are attracted by the scent of the flowers. The carpenter bee is guided by the red patch on the center of the flower and accurately stays on the petals. The pollen above will scratch the carpenter bee's back. Interestingly, in order to avoid selfing, the style of cardamom will slowly bend downward after noon. At this time, the stigma has matured. When the carpenter bee visits again, the pollen carried on its back can help pollinate the red cardamom. The small and delicate style movement can actively avoid selfing, increase the genetic diversity of offspring, and resist changing environments. In fact, it is a unique reproduction strategy of red cardamom. Although this interpretation is scientific and reasonable, it ultimately lacks poetry and cultural meaning, and is much more boring.
Before I get my daughter’s joy, I sing the cardamom flower first. The Hun people make jokes and make it difficult for everyone. This interpretation is only for readers and those who encounter red cardamom to have one more perspective and one more way to appreciate the beauty of the plant.