Chapter 16 Chapter 15: The Iris with Thousand Points of True Pearl Holds Su Rui, and a Ring of Bright Moon Broken Fragrant Flowers.

Let's talk about herbal flowers. Looking back at the writing about Chengdu's seasons and flowers blooming, I found that it kept talking about woody flowers.But around us, more flowers are herbs, which bloom in the undergrowth or the grassland at the edge of the forest, or where a single grass can be complete by itself.Herbaceous flowers are more pervasive, more robust, and color our surroundings everywhere.They don't want to watch the wide area of ​​the tree, pruning and cutting the leaves, and tending it so carefully. Even a small seed, even if it falls in the cracks of the bricks on the sidewalk, as long as there is a little soil and water, it can sprout branches and spread leaves. Those who have no grass in their eyes will bloom if they don't trample on them.

In spring, when I went to a master’s school, on the steps in front of a building, I saw a different kind of purple light shining between the gaps in the cement steps, but it turned out that Viola chinensis had blossomed.There are a total of three flowers in this plant, which are sincere purple. In such a space, the five calyxes are still stretched out one by one.That day, I went to listen to a lecture on archaeology.At this time, under the faint warm afternoon sun in Chengdu, I remembered the beginning of Yasunari Kawabata: "Chieko noticed that the purple lily on the trunk of the old maple tree was blooming. 'Ah, it bloomed again this year.' Chieko felt the brilliance of spring."

And for me, seeing these weak flowers, the elegant words at the beginning of that elegant novel came to my mind.On the way home, I stopped by the bookstore and took this long-lost book from the shelf under the lamp.I saw that Kawabata Yasunari also said in the novel: "The purple flower blooms every spring, usually three, and at most five." Such words are not only quiet and elegant, but also botanically accurate. Because of the short flowering period (about two weeks), Viola japonica makes the novelist and the protagonist in the novel happy and sad at the same time.And I really like the way the flowers look: a few beautiful basal leaves, a few delicate, calm purple flowers.Later, I went to a hillside outside the city where I had seen them before, but this year's spring was dry, so I couldn't see them blooming happily.On the dry hillock that kicked up dust when I stepped on it, they were only sparsely open, and in the dry floating soil, I looked ashamed. I didn't even turn on the camera, sat for a while, and went down the mountain.

Fortunately, by the wet stream below, I met a few open irises under a bush of Buddleia and a few wolfberry trees.At the beginning of March, it is not the month of irises, but there are indeed a few clumps of sword-shaped green leaves in the shade of the trees, holding white and blue flowers. It is not accurate to say that iris is a family, and many kinds of flowers make up this family.What I saw was a very common herbaceous flower, usually called pansies.Along the sidewalks in Chengdu, in the clearings under the clumps of trees, they can be found everywhere, but I saw their initial opening outside the city.Ten days later, in the city, everywhere, and on street corners, they opened up one after another.In another ten days or so, they will bloom very prosperously, and under the shade of the trees, they will shine brightly one by one.The urban area of ​​Chengdu is located at the bottom of the basin, and there is little wind, especially the small wind that makes the flowers and plants dance. Otherwise, those white and blue irises would really fly like butterflies.

In April, when the pansies begin to wither, another iris called yellow iris, which grows in water, will appear.In front of the No. 2 gate of the residential area, in the two small ponds sandwiching the passage, calla lilies and yellow irises bloomed together.The pure white of the calla lily makes the color of the iris brighter.Every day when I go out, I have to stop and take a look at it. If you are willing to observe carefully, the flowers of iris are indeed very interesting.At first glance, it seems that there are six "petals", but Iris has only three petals, and the outer three petals are the sepals that protect the buds, but because these three petal-shaped sepals look exactly like petals, they are often fake. Hard to read.But if you look closely, you will find that these six "petals" are actually divided into two layers, and the lower layer has three single-color sheets without markings.The top three are the real petals, with beautiful markings in the center.What's even more amazing is that the iris stretches out from the center of the flower. The three pistils have the same base color as the petals, and the three pistils also grow into tongue-shaped petals, but the texture is thicker and more delicate.I read foreign books about viewing flowers. In addition to the macro lens of the camera, it is always recommended that you bring a magnifying glass, so that you can watch carefully and admire the wonderful nature of the special structure of flowers.

It is May, and the irises have faded. Yesterday afternoon, after the rain, I went to a restaurant by the Fuhe River for dinner. I was afraid of the traffic jam and arrived early, so I went for a walk in the living water park.Look at those artificial designs that imitate the self-purification of sewage in natural habitats, look at those ponds with meandering water flow and overgrown aquatic plants, and see calla lilies and yellow irises that coexist with windmill bamboo and calamus.After the rain, the air is extraordinarily fresh, and the green eyes are even more lovely.Especially the clumps of sword-shaped leaves of the iris, but the lovely yellow flowers are really withered.

It is at this time that we usually call it iris, or in other words, the blue flower that can often be regarded as the natural representative of the family Iridaceae is in its blooming season.This kind of iris is not common in the city, but people who are willing to look for flowers can still meet them occasionally. This kind of iris flower, which is regarded as the representative of the family Iridaceae, is even bigger. Among the flowers with three sepals that look like petals and three stamens that also look like petals, there is a crown protruding from the center of the three real petals, which is beautiful. The crest on the head of the most beautiful bird—and in the center of the petals of the white pansies and yellow irises, there are only feathery spots of color.Vincent van Gogh has a famous painting called "Irises".The flowers are also blue, such a dense clump of blue flowers is in full bloom, but with the strong brushstrokes of the Impressionist personal impression, the details cannot be seen clearly from the picture, so there is no way to know whether what he painted is also in bloom. This is the kind in our city.

Yes, in March, April, and May, there are three kinds of irises blooming in this city.Now, May is coming to an end, and the irises that belong to this city are about to bloom.Where did they come from? The ones placed in pots in the middle of the street and in the square are not counted. The clover (clover) and wood sorrel growing in the open field are all about to bloom, but there must be new flowers appearing one after another.I have to go out for a few more days, first to South Korea, then to Cixi, and when I come back, they must be open again. I have seen two species of irises in China, but they are not in this city anymore.One is the Nalati grassland deep in the Tianshan Mountains, called Malan (scientific name Ma Lin).The other is in the Gongga Valley, the blue to almost black color, the color adjusted to a very thick ink, the three real petals, the markings are dazzling golden, so it is called the golden vein iris .

I have also seen it abroad, once in Brazil, in the yard of a guest’s house, and again in a botanical garden after returning home. The name written on the sign is Brazilian Iris. 2010.5.21