The green plum was brushed like snow and the car was still full.

During this period of time, have you ever encountered a situation like this: when you are ready to go to work in the morning, you go to your car (parked outdoors), only to find that the roof and the front and rear windows are covered with small, milky petals, and at the same time, there is a slightly dull smell in the whole air.

This is du Ying, this season, every du Ying tree is covered with a large number of flowers, dense air, busy bees and flies.

Du Ying is one of the main street trees in Chongqing, which can be seen everywhere. To be exact, the one used for urban greening is a species of the genus Elaeocarpus glabripetalus of the Duying family, which is named because the petals are hairless outside. I am not used to such a common tree with such a mouthful name. Du Ying mentioned below, if not specified, all refers to this kind.

One of the main street trees in Chongqing

Now that it is in bloom, du Ying's first shocking impression is that she spends a lot of money. Racemes are born in a special position, neither terminal nor axillary, but grow from bare branches, like small brushes. The light green florets are a bit like green plum blossoms, but du Ying's structure is much more complex and exquisite than plum blossoms.

raceme

Petals 5, upper part torn into fimbriate

Petals are glabrous, hence the name bald petals.

Each Duying's floret has 5 milky white petals and 5 green calyx, alternate. The most special thing is that the upper part of the petal is torn into fimbriate strips, adding a bit of luxury to the simple floret.

Du Ying's florets usually droop when they are in full bloom, but if you stay under the tree for a while, you will see many bees and flies pounce on their flowers with the golden bell upside down. Not surprisingly, like the raspberries written in the previous issue, du Ying also has an orange disk shaped like a plum blossom. Stamens are inserted densely on the disk, like seedlings planted in a fertile rice field.

Bees and flies enjoying a feast

Disk orange, with tufts of hairs at the top of the anther

The flowers you see are just the winners in the auditions. The number of buds of Duying is far more than the number of flowers, and a considerable number of them fall off before they blossom. They have been hanging on the branches for a long time, and in May or June, I watched these flowers sprout from millet grains to grow into small green pendants, which is also a pleasant scenery.

The buds are beautiful, too.

Have you ever noticed that du Ying's fruit is ripe in autumn? The fruit is oval, similar to the cinnamon fruit of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, and also like an olive. I measured it and found that each fruit was no more than 2 centimeters long. At this time, I can be sure that it is bald du Ying. I waited for half a year to confirm its identity.

Fruit oblong, not more than 2 cm long

I have always liked this kind of tree since I met du Ying. It is an evergreen tree, with a long companion at 04:00, with its head down and very kind.

In a pile of evergreen street trees, bald Duying has an exclusive identification mark: there are always one or two red leaves on each branch. It is said that this is due to the conversion of chlorophyll to anthocyanins in some new leaves under the influence of low temperature frost. These red leaves often wither alone and fall on the road or hedge. For some reason, I always like to collect them.

Photo taken on April 2, 2018

In the city, bald du Ying has also experienced the cold and warm from being popular to being neglected. More than ten years ago, it became an online celebrity tree and was widely used in the municipal greening of various cities. However, it is ignored that its habits are not suitable for exposure. Many of the bald du Ying, who have become street trees, have their bark cracked in the second or third year, growing sluggishly, or even dying. As soon as the saying of "du Ying's delicacy" has been spread, the price of seedlings has plummeted.

Now, with the accumulation of experience, more and more gardeners begin to understand the habits of bald Duying, knowing that planting and maintenance should avoid the western sun, or it is good to plant street trees on the east side of the building. Look, understanding is true love.

Photo taken on November 3, 2017

Colored egg

"am I taking a picture of du Ying with bald petal?"

Friends often send photos to ask this question, I always answer: "very similar, may be, ."

Because from the data, at present, in southwest China, South China, East China and other regions, bald du Ying is most used for urban greening. So, with your eyes closed, you have a good chance of being right.

However, there are 360 species of Duying, and there are about 40 species in China. What if you are lucky enough to take pictures of du Ying, Shan Duying and Zhonghua du Ying who look alike? Southern cities have also begun to use these kinds of greening.

In addition to the features mentioned above, add two more details, and you can judge for yourself. Isn't that hard?

1. Observe the leaf morphology. The leaves of Duying are Obovate-lanceolate or oblanceolate, with shallow obtusely serrated edges and short petioles. There are no black glandular spots on the abaxial surface of the leaves, and the lateral veins are about 8 pairs.

2, look at the twig. Obtuse ribs, glabrous.

Note 1:

The scientific name of Elaeocarpus looks complicated, but it is simple when folded, indicating two characteristics of the species: the genus name is made up of the Greek root elaion olive + karpus fruit, which means "fruit shaped like olive". The adjective glabripetalus consists of glabri's glabrous + petalus petals, meaning petals glabrous.

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

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