Chapter 116 hero tree cotton

This year, the beginning of spring came early this year, and the weather was particularly warm a few days earlier. The kapok trees in Hong Kong have already bloomed just after the new year.Hong Kong people have always believed that as long as kapok blooms, the weather will never be cold again.People in Shuishang believed in this sign even more. They used to use the big kapok tree in Jardine Cang near Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter as a guideline. As soon as the flowers on the tree bloomed, they would roll up the only broken cotton tube and take it ashore. It's time to "drive the sheep".Originally, Hong Kong's climate would be extremely cold for a few days in February of the Gregorian calendar, which is the beginning of the Lunar New Year, but since the kapok is in bloom, it is not too cold even if it is cold.

Although there are not as many kapoks in Hong Kong as in Guangzhou and the Xijiang area, judging from the number of kapoks left around the urban areas, there must have been many in the past.Among the kapok trees in Hong Kong, the easiest to see in the urban area are the few trees opposite to St. John's Church at the garden crossing.There are about four or five trees in total, standing beside the road. Because there are no other miscellaneous trees around the barracks, they are particularly easy to see.During the flowering season every year, if the weather is fine and the sun is shining, the trees full of big red flowers will stand tall for a long time. It looks like what Qu Dajun said: "Looking at it is like billions of flower stirrups, and it will burn to nothingness."

Kapok was called Shihouhua in ancient times, commonly known as red cotton.And because the branches of this kind of tree are tall, often higher than other nearby trees, it is also called the hero tree.Kapok flowers first and then leaves, and when it blooms, there are often old leaves from the next year on the branches.The shape of the flower is very similar to the magnolia wood pen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but it is not purple but deep red, with six petals upward and yellow stamens. On the vigorous branches like dragons, there are big red flowers, which look very ancient. Yan cute. Kapok sheds fruit, and there are cotton like catkins in Zimi. The kapok we usually use in pillows and cushions is this thing.Kapok is a special product of Guangdong, and it is the most abundant in the Xijiang River Basin. "Guangdong Xinyu" described the grand occasion of kapok in this area:

"The boat goes up from the Yanghe River to Duanzhou, and from Nanjin Qingqi Erkou to Sihui. The banks are mostly kapok, more than ten feet long, and go straight through the ancient banyan tree. There are thousands of branches, like coral Langgan, light The air is blazing, and the reflection is like ocher. When it falls, those who follow the current appear and disappear like water lanterns, dyeing the waves like red. From mid-spring to Mengxia, connecting villages and fields, opening everywhere, commanding the beauty of the world." Qu Dajun wrote a poem about the kapok on both sides of the Xijiang River:

Xijiang has the most kapok, and there are tens of thousands of butterflies on the Jia'an; It is also like a candle dragon holding the title of ten days, illuminating the sky and half the jade face. There is another point worth mentioning about kapok: when it blooms on a tree, its petals are upward, and the stamens of the receptacle are heavier than the petals, so when it falls from the tree, it remains in its original shape in the air. At this time, the six petals become propellers. , spinning all the way down, and then fell to the ground with a snap.Taking a leisurely break in spring, standing by the tree and admiring the falling red flowers spinning down from mid-air, is really a joy in life.Kapok can be used as medicine and can reduce swelling and inflammation, so the fallen flowers are picked up immediately.