The “longevity star” of the online red plant industry has been “rooted” in Guangdong for 94 years!

02/08/2023

Under the sun and the breeze, the leaves of the fallen fir are as light and elegant as feathers, adding to the romantic and beautiful artistic conception of winter, which is heart-wrenching. At the end of the year, the sequoia at the lakeside of the major parks in Guangzhou entered the "best tasting period" of the year with the appearance of "being popular". However, the familiar winter "net red" actually existed as early as the late Jurassic. According to researcher Chen Zhongyi, former deputy director of the South China Botanical Institute (Garden) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the end of the 1920s, Chen Huanyong, a famous plant taxonomist, introduced the Chinese fir to Guangdong in the United States. Time has changed, and the vicissitudes of the world have changed. The young trees of that year have grown into big trees. They stand tall and graceful on the lakesides of Guangzhou, creating the most beautiful scenery in winter. It is understood that the Chinese fir, Liriodendron chinense, Chinese tallow, coconut awn and maple are all foliage plants in Guangzhou in winter, and the midsummer of winter is the time for the Chinese fir to have a good performance.

"Living fossil" that has witnessed the vicissitudes of the earth

If time goes back to 30 million years ago, this ancient relict plant, once widely distributed in North America and northern Eurasia, will not realize that it will one day become a "Internet celebrity" – people who are attracted to take photos and punch cards will be amazed at every deep and shallow red.

Chen Zhongyi told reporters that the Chinese fir had appeared on the earth as early as the late Jurassic, and only survived in North America after the Quaternary glaciers. The fallen fir, which has witnessed the vicissitudes of the earth, has come from the long history and become a "living fossil". It is understood that the Larix gmelinii, which survived after the crustal movement and the glacial period, has a slow growth rhythm. It is from the young to the middle age under 50 years old, and there is no problem to live to more than 1000 years old. It is one of the real longevity stars in the plant industry.

Taxodium glyptostroboides is native to the swampy areas in the southeast of the United States. In 1928-1929, when the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Botany of Sun Yat-sen University (the predecessor of South China Botanical Garden) was established, Chen Huanyong exchanged seeds from the University of California in the United States. This is the earliest introduction record of Taxodium glyptostroboides in Guangdong Province. It is understood that many of these seeds were raised and later planted in Guangzhou South China University of Technology, Taiping Town, Dongguan City and Luocun Commune, Nanhai District, Foshan City.

The most popular fir forest in South China National Botanical Garden was built in 1958 with the efforts of older botanists. The larch trees planted in the lake and on the shore have grown vigorously year after year and are now in their prime. The fallen fir forest and the palm peninsula, which are red and green in winter, have become the most classic scenic spot of the South China National Botanical Garden – the world-class garden landscape "Longdong Qilin".

↑ Chinese fir in South China National Botanical Garden (photographed by Huang Jie)

The "red leaf period" of aquatic Taxodium gmelinii is longer than that of terrestrial Taxodium gmelinii

From green to yellow, and then from orange to red, there are red maples in the north, and there are also Chinese fir in the south. The closer to the end of the year, the more beautiful the scenery is, the more poetic and picturesque the leaves are. Li Wenyan, an engineer of South China National Botanical Garden, told the reporter that the fallen fir in autumn and winter is a unique landscape of red leaves in South China. From December to January of the next year, its color change process can last for more than one month.

In spring and summer, "buried" in a lush area, and the fallen fir in autumn and winter is surrounded by color. With the continuous decrease of temperature, the "sense of existence" increases day by day. When it comes to the reason for the "discoloration" of Taxus chinensis, it is actually determined by the pigment in the leaves.

"The change of leaf color of deciduous trees is related to the content of chlorophyll, carotenoids, alkaloid pigments and flavonoid pigments related to the color in the leaf tissue." According to Li Wenyan, the leaf color turns red due to a large amount of anthocyanins (one of the flavonoid pigments) synthesized in the leaves, and the biosynthesis of anthocyanins is induced by many factors, such as temperature, light, nutrient supply, growth regulation Metabolites and special development stages of tissues, among which temperature plays an important role in the process of leaf color rendering.

In Guangzhou, whether it is the South China National Botanical Garden, Luhu Park, Liuhua Lake Park, or the Pearl River Park, Tianhe Park, Baiyun Lake Park, etc., it can be said that as long as there is "water", you can meet the cedar. Not only that, this deciduous tree can be called "amphibious" – it can not only grow in shallow marshes with water resistance, but also grow on land with good drainage. "It is observed that under sufficient light conditions, the red-leaf period of Taxodium gmelinii growing in water is longer than that of terrestrial Taxodium gmelinii, and has better overall ornamental value." Li Wenyan said, "In addition, the lower the temperature is, the faster the Taxodium gmelinii changes color; while the sapling trees change color faster than the old trees."

↑ Fallen fir in Luhu Park

↑ Larix in Yuexiu Park

↑ Falling feather cedar in Donghao Chong

↑ Fallen fir in Liuhua Lake Park

↑ Larix in Yuexiu Park

↑ Fallen fir in Luhu Park

Besides appreciating leaves, "observing roots" and "observing fruits" are also interesting

What impressed many people was the leaves of Taxodium kaempferi changing in four seasons, but many people also observed the fruit of Taxodium kaempferi, round and round, hanging on the tree, big and eye-catching. What about the "flower" of the fallen fir?

Li Wenyan told the reporter that the so-called "flower" of the Chinese fir is different from the common flowers (such as the city flower kapok), and there is no flower organ structure such as calyx and corolla. The male flower of Taxodium glyptostroboides is called microsporophyllum, which spreads a large amount of pollen and spreads by wind. In summer, it produces round or oval cones with short stalks and hangs at the end of branches. "Chinese fir is monoecious, and different plants have the 'flowering' period first and then, generally about 20 days in April, and the cone maturity period is November to December." Looking closely, each fruit scale of Chinese fir cone is woody and thick, slightly quadrilateral, and has two brown seeds. When the cone is mature, it will crack automatically, exposing irregular triangular seeds with large and small sharp edges. The seed is bare without pericarp. "Therefore, the Chinese fir is a typical gymnospermous plant."

In addition to "fruit observation", there is also a unique "punch point" in the South China National Botanical Garden – brown red "knee-shaped roots", some thin and some thick, grow vertically upward, and emerge from the ground around the main root of the Chinese fir. It is reported that this strange knee-shaped root only grows in shallow water or near water for a long time, but does not exist in well-drained flat or sloping land.

Because they look like each other, many people will not know the difference between Taxodium glyptostroboides and Metasequoia glyptostroboides. To this end, Li Wenyan said that Taxodium glyptostroboides is a tall deciduous tree of Taxodium glyptostroboides in the cypress family, which is named for its feathery branches and leaves; Metasequoia belongs to the genus Metasequoia of Cupressaceae. "The leaflets of metasequoia are wide, soft and opposite; the leaflets of Taxodium glyptostroboides are alternate and thinner."

It is reported that at present, the South China National Botanical Garden has studied a large number of Chinese juniper, a national first-level protected plant. The model specimens of Chinese juniper are collected from Guangzhou. In recent years, the research team of Wang Ruijiang at the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been committed to the field investigation, genetic diversity analysis, seedling cultivation and field regression of Pinus massoniana.