c131-140

395 2 0
                                    

Chapter 131 Chapter 130: Millet Spatholobus

Yang Chunyan looked in the direction he pointed, "It seems so!"

Zhou Huaian took the lead and walked towards the hairy fern. After passing the hairy fern, he saw a big tree with oblate fruits hanging on the trunk, and a lot of them fell on the ground.

The scientific name of this tree is Ficus macrocarpa, and the locals call it Big Fig.

The bark of the big banyan tree is grey-brown, rough in texture, the young branches are pubescent, the leaves are alternate, thick papery, broadly ovate and heart-shaped, and the fruits are clustered at the base of the trunk or on short branches of old stems.

The flowering period of Ficus macrocarpa is from August to March of the following year, and the fruiting period is from May to August. The fruits are larger than figs.

The fruit is reddish brown or purple in color, pear-shaped or oblate spherical. The inside of the fruit contains a large amount of honey-like pectin, which melts in the mouth and is sweet and juicy.

The young branches and leaves of Ficus macrocarpa can be used as vegetables and livestock feed. When the fruit of the female plant matures, its shape and taste are a bit like figs, but they are sweeter and juicier than figs.

Male plants also bear fruit, but the pulp is too dry to be eaten.

Big banyan fruit: sweet in nature and flavor, slightly warm. It has the effects of promoting lactation, replenishing qi and promoting blood circulation. It is mainly used to treat maternal qi deficiency, lack of milk, lung deficiency and asthma. The fruits can also be used as medicine after they are ripe and dried.

Zhou Huaian stepped forward and broke off a fig. He opened it and looked at it. He didn't see any insects before handing it to her, "Yan'er, this one is ripe."

Big-fruited figs rely on fig wasps for pollination. People in the mountains know that when eating big figs, they must break them open and take a look, because there may be corpses of fig wasps living inside.

Yang Chunyan took a look at the dark red jelly-like flesh, took a bite, and finished one in two or three mouthfuls, "It's delicious, sweet and thirst-quenching!"

The fruits are still delicious these days, and we don’t have to worry about fruit flies laying eggs and maggots in the fruits.

Zhou Huaian handed another one to her, "There used to be a tree at the entrance of the village, and everyone was looking at the fruit before it was ripe. When I went to the mountains to herd sheep and saw it, I also brought it to us." He put down the bamboo pole on his back and said, "I Pick more and take it with you to eat on the road.”

"Just pick a dozen. When you go back, pick more and give them to Jiaming and the others."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaian stepped on a big rock, raised his head, picked the ripe fruits, and handed them to Yang Chunyan.

It didn't take long before there were twenty or thirty people in the baskets on their backs. Each of them took a fruit and walked towards the place where the mountain was full of fragrance. The sun shone through the treetops into the forest.

"Huai'an, the sun is already high, but our baskets are still empty."

"Don't worry, there are purple lingzhi waiting for us!"

The two of them talked and soon arrived at the place where the mountain incense was cut. Yang Chunyan took a closer look and saw new buds sprouting from the sides of the cut stems.

Zhou Huaian had already gone to the nest he left last time. When he saw the pine needles and withered grass supported by the grown-up purple Ganoderma lucidum, he shouted excitedly, "Yan'er, it's still there, it's still there!"

Return to the small mountain village in 1981Where stories live. Discover now