The mysterious plant surnamed du

In June, Du Heng's flowering period basically passed. However, his flowers were not pretty, and passers-by who did not know him would be hard to find. In June, Du Heng's leaves grow big, shiny and moving, and there are charming patterns.

Aristolochiaceae >> Asarum

Du Heng is a plant belonging to Asarum of Aristolochiaceae. The name "Du Heng" makes him stand out among the "XX Asarum" in the genus.

Du Heng's name once appeared in Chu Ci·Jiu Ge·Xiang Lady: Zhiqi Lotus House, Liao Du Heng. There are also records in the Book of Mountains and Seas: "There is grass in the mountain of Heaven." Its shape is like sunflower, its smell is like turnip, named Du Heng. The horse can be eaten and eaten."

Chu Ci wrote vanilla, Shan Hai Jing wrote immortal grass, we can see "Du Heng" extraordinary. But Du Heng is neither the strangest nor the most beautiful of Asarum. Why does he have a different name?

According to Taiwan scholar Pan Fujun's textual research in "Chu Ci Plant Atlas," Du Heng in ancient times is Du Heng today. According to some domestic scholars 'textual research, Du Heng in Chu Ci may refer to Du Ruo. [1]What a mess. Moreover, who can prove that the ancient Du Heng does not refer to other plants of Asarum? According to Cai Shaoqing's textual research, some works of traditional Chinese medicine in Song Dynasty mistakenly included Du Heng's picture as Asarum. [2]Perhaps Du Heng had a unique name because he was lucky...

I don't know why Du Heng has such an outstanding name, nor do I know why Du Heng grows such exquisite patterns. When the leaves are young, the markings on the leaves appear to be random ink stains. As the leaves grow, the stripes are regular and spread out along the central axis of the leaves, almost symmetrical.

What are these patterns for? We know that humans have cultivated many plants with flowers and leaves to meet the needs of ornamental, such as golden yellow box, flower hairpin and so on. But why did Du Heng grow up like this in the wild? Probably nobody knows.

Behind the beautiful leaves, Du Heng is actually a low-key weed. He was born in the wild, under trees, among rotten leaves, and was difficult to find. I have seen wild Du Heng in Feilaifeng, Lishui and other places. In Hangzhou Botanical Garden, Xixi Wetland has introduced cultivation.

He blooms very low-key, unlike most plants blooming ostentatiously, Du Heng hides the flowers low-key, almost low into the soil.

If it blooms in March and April, you can see the flowers by opening the leaves. Du Heng's flowers looked like naked salted peanuts with three petals, slightly larger than a peanut, and a dark hole in the center waiting for pollinators to enter.

Generally speaking, Du Heng is a mysterious plant. I don't know who "Du Heng" is, why he looks like this, what is hidden in the hole of his flower, what species pollinates him...

I don't know if you can remember Du Heng's name the next time you see him in the wild.

[1]Chen Xiuyuan, Hua Qing, Zhang Huiquan. A textual research on Du Ruo's materia medica [J]. Herbal Medicine, 1988, 4: 44-45.

[2]Cai Shaoqing, Wang Xuan. Herbal Textual Research on Asarum [J]. Journal of Beijing Medical University, 1997, 29(3): 233-235.

Author: Jiang someone

Photo: Jiang Mou

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