Pomegranate flowers are about to burn in May.

In May, the beginning of summer, it belongs to pomegranate flowers.

The pomegranate flower is so special that there are probably very few people you don't know. Its fruit, fruit pomegranate, is also well known and highly recognizable.

Unlike most familiar flowers, the number of petals of pomegranate is not fixed, ranging from 5 to 9 petals. The petals are naturally wrinkled, light and thin in texture, like fine rice paper, and the color is also unique. My mother used to say, "the red pomegranate is unique." Stamens a lot, also the same as red.

However, it is not just the color that is unique. The calyx of pomegranate is also interesting. When the bud has not yet split, there are several green dots in the center, which are its glandular spots. Usually, the calyx is slightly lighter in color than the petals, thickly fleshy, the apex is divided to the middle, and the number of lobes is usually the same as the number of petals.

When the flowers bloom, the sepals incline outward, like a medal, very round. After the flower fades, the calyx left on the tree persists and grows with the fruit, while the calyx that falls on the ground always reminds me of starfish. Flowers bloom on upper branches, terminal or axillary, one or more.

The green glandular spot at the tip of the calyx lobe.

When the flowers bloom, the sepals incline outward.

Sepals 8-lobed and 6-lobed

A calyx that falls on the ground

One or more, terminal or axillary

Cloud travel photo

Familiar places also have scenery. Following Mr. Han Shaogong to find the purport of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains or thousands of miles of sand on a fallen leaf, pomegranate, which is used to seeing flowers year after year, also gave me fresh excitement and surprise.

For example, the gentle pomegranate tree is covered with thorns. The Chinese Flora describes its characteristics as saying, "twigs are often spiny." at first I wondered, because I never thought pomegranates had thorns in my impression.

But with this doubt, every time I see a pomegranate tree, I will subconsciously look for this thorn. The first time it was found at the top of a new branch of a dwarf shrub, the thorn was very short, protruding from between two crimson young leaves. This discovery cheered me up.

Next, Peugeot's 307 law works again. I seem to have a filter all of a sudden. When I look at other pomegranate trees, I can see clearly that it is covered with thorns! These thorns are distributed in the branchlets, the upper part, and on the old branches. This feeling is so good.

The first thorn found first

Find another bunch of thorns.

The thorn slowly grew into a new branch

New branches quadrangular, slightly winged

The growth pattern of pomegranate thorns is very similar to that of Begonia. A thick thorn grows first from the branch, and as the thorn grows thicker and longer, it becomes a new branch, and the new leaf grows out of the thorn.

The new branch of pomegranate is also different from the old branch. The new branches are green and white, square, with narrow wings on the edges, while the old branches become smooth and cylindrical when they grow.

I asked my parents afterwards that even the experienced ones did not know that pomegranate trees had thorns. The things you discover by yourself are small, but full of happiness. As a matter of fact, the fact that pomegranates have thorns is the most satisfying happiness for my observation. I admit that the happiness of plant addicts is a little different.

As a result, I think that there is probably no happier person in the world than Darwin, .

The generic name Punica comes from the Latin word pomegranate (malum punicum), which originally means "apple of Carthage" (Carthaginian apple). The adjective "granatum" means "many seeds". In addition to red, horticultural varieties include red double petal, white, yellow and patterned agate pomegranate.

Double pomegranate

Double pomegranate with white flowers, photo by Zhang Yongmei

The portal of Pomegranate family is very small, with only one genus and two species. The other is called Socotra pomegranate (Punica protopunica), which is native to the Yemeni island of Socotra (Socotra Island) in the Arabian Sea. Its flowers are smaller and its fruit is not as sweet as pomegranate. The latest taxonomy has eliminated the pomegranate family and incorporated it into the family Lycopodiaceae (crape myrtle family). No wonder developers are desperate to make the land bigger and stronger, otherwise, there will probably be no place for you in the future.

Socotra pomegranate, pictured from the network

Pomegranate is an imported species, but it has been introduced into China in the Han Dynasty, and it is said that it was brought back by Zhang Qian when he was in the Western regions. Its origin is Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian regions-at this point, I suddenly remembered that when I traveled in Turkey a few years ago, it was common for fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice to be sold in the market, but it turned out to have Arabic genes.

But the pomegranate doesn't look like an alien species. Not to mention its green leaves and safflower is a typical Chinese color match, it is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and has many metaphorical meanings, which has far exceeded many native Chinese plants. The pomegranate skirt is gorgeous, and the pomegranate seed means many children and blessings. In the writings of the literati, it is also a symbol of wandering thousands of miles away from home and going to the country. In A Dream of Red Mansions, Cao Xueqin's sentence "the pomegranate blossoms are in full bloom" makes it even more famous. the obscure meaning of this poem has not yet been decided by red scientists.

The pomegranate flower is burning.

The pomegranate blossom is most beautiful when looking against the light. In the light of the sun, its soft petals are as if to burn, burst out indescribably bright and magnificent, like the burning years of passion, but also like the prime of youth. Ancient poets accurately captured this trait. Han Yu said, "May pomegranate flowers are bright in the eyes," and Su Shunqin went further in the Northern Song Dynasty:

Xia Xiqing is deep in other hospitals.

The pomegranate blossoms through the curtain.

The trees are shady and the sun is full of noon.

When I dream of a warbler.

Today, pomegranate blossoms can still be seen everywhere, but such a mood and state of mind have gone away in front of the era of rushing forward.

The article and plant pictures (except for the origin) are all original by the author.

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