Honeysuckle (Photo Source Network)
Cover reporter Liu Kexin
“There are two A pot of honeysuckle, don’t be afraid of the hot summer.” As soon as the midsummer arrived, bottles of honeysuckle dew were placed in front of the pharmacy. In the transparent glass bottle, there is a slightly golden transparent liquid, and the words “Honeysuckle Dew” are printed on the wrapping paper. This drink with added sucrose has become one of people’s favorite drinks in the heat. Who are the glass jars left behind to hold condiments after drinking honeysuckle dew?
Honeysuckle is also known as “Right Turning Rattan” and “Er Treasure Rattan” in Sichuan, and in other areas, it is also known as “Egron Rattan” and “Old Man’s Beard”, and its scientific name is “Honeysuckle”. Li Shizhen recorded in “Compendium of Materia Medica” that Tao Hongjing of the Liang Dynasty once wrote about the origin of the name “Honeysuckle”: “There are vines everywhere, and they do not wither in winter, hence the name Honeysuckle.” This kind of plant with delicate flowers, but Unexpectedly, he showed his character when it was least noticeable.
Honeysuckle blooms from April to June, and also blooms in September and October in autumn. Honeysuckle often produces two flowers on a pedicle, each with two petals, and the stamens stick out high, showing some ostentatious appearance. Because the two flowers are accompanied by two flowers, the honeysuckle is also endowed with a beautiful meaning by people, and it is called “mandarin duck vine”, which means that it is a pair, and the golden and silver are always accompanied. At the beginning, the slender petals are white, and then gradually turn yellow and orange-yellow. The honeysuckle we see “full of gold and silver” is actually not born with two colors. The stamens and style of the honeysuckle are higher than the corolla, and the whole flower is in a “blooming” state, with gold, silver and orange stamens, just like small fireworks adorned on the branches.
Honeysuckle (Photo Source Network)
According to the “Flora of China” record, “Honeysuckle” One was first seen in Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica”, because modern literature has been used for a long time, it is now recognized that “Honeysuckle” is the correct name of the medicinal material, and it is included in the pharmacopoeia. In the catalog of “Compendium of Materia Medica”, the item “Honeysuckle” is marked: “Don’t record is honeysuckle”. The book records a variety of medicinal methods of honeysuckle, brewed honeysuckle wine, simmered honeysuckle with flowers and rhizomes for one night, added batter to make honeysuckle balls, added honeysuckle, sesame oil and other brewed honeysuckle paste and so on. But now people are most familiar with honeysuckle tea.
Not like other flowers that are made into tea, honeysuckle does not have the sweetness of sweet-scented osmanthus, nor the fragrance of jasmine, but is more bitter. At the first entrance, there is still a faint scent of fragrance, but as the action of entrance and swallowing is completed, the bitterness becomes stronger and stronger, and finally reaches its peak after a mouthful of tea falls into the stomach. This is really not a good tea drinking experience. Although bitter, honeysuckle has been regarded as a good medicine for eliminating fire, clearing heat and detoxifying since ancient times. Often when the tongue is sore and angry, people will say: “Drink a cup of honeysuckle!”
Honeysuckle tea strong>
Honeysuckle tea is best with flower buds, mixed with leaves and stems is inferior. The honeysuckle tea is picked from May to July. The slender buds are attached with short fluff, which is very cute. When the small buds start to turn blue and white, they are picked and dried. If you plant honeysuckle at home, you can also make it yourself, but you should be careful not to expose it to the sun directly, and turn it less frequently, otherwise the color of the honeysuckle tea will be darker.
There is an agricultural proverb that says: “Waterlogging kills crops and dry grass, freezing pomegranates and sunburning melons will not affect honeysuckle.” Honeysuckle’s requirements for the growing environment are not so harsh. Therefore, except for Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Hainan, and Tibet, which have no natural growth, they are distributed all over the country. Whether it is on the roadside or on the hillside, you can see the figure of honeysuckle. It’s just that the honeysuckle that doesn’t bloom is mediocre, and no one pays attention.
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