Plum

plum blossom

This data is reviewed by the project of data compilation and application of Science Encyclopedia of science popularization in China.

Prunus mume (scientific name: armeniacamume Sieb.): small tree, rare shrub, 4-10m high; bark light gray or greenish, smooth; branchlets green, smooth, glabrous. Leaf blade ovate or elliptic, leaf edge often with small sharp serrated, gray green. The flowers are solitary or sometimes two in one bud, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, fragrant and open before the leaves; the calyx is usually reddish brown, but the calyx of some varieties is green or green purple; the petals are obovate, white to pink. The fruit is subglobose, 2-3cm in diameter, yellow or greenish white, pubescent and sour; the flesh adheres to the core; the core is elliptic, slightly flat on both sides. The flowering period is winter and spring, and the fruiting period is May to June. 2n=16，24。

Plum is native to southern China and has been cultivated for more than 3000 years. Many types are not only cultivated in open field for viewing, but also can be used as potted flowers to make plum piles. Flowers can extract essence, flowers, leaves, roots and seeds can be used as medicine. The fruit can be eaten, salted or dried, or smoked into black plum. It has the effect of relieving cough, diarrhea, producing body fluid and thirst. Plum is also resistant to root nematodes and can be used as rootstock for stone fruit trees.

Plum blossom is one of the top ten famous flowers in China. It is listed as the four gentlemen along with orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. It is also known as the "three friends of winter" together with pine and bamboo. In the traditional Chinese culture, Mei, with her noble, strong and modest character, inspires people to make great efforts. In the cold, plum blossoms first, only the world and spring.

(general drawing reference source:)

History of Botany

Plum is a unique traditional flower and fruit in China, which has been used for more than 3000 years. "The book of songs" says: "if you make soup, you only have plum." "The book of rites · neize" contains: "peach, plum, egg and salt". Zhounan, the book of songs, says, "if there are plum blossoms, there are actually seven.". Mei is also mentioned in Qin Feng Zhongnan, Chen Feng tomb gate and Cao Feng Lu Jiu. According to the records of the above-mentioned ancient books, in ancient times, plum was used as a condiment instead of cheese, which was indispensable for sacrifice, cooking and gift. At least 2500 years ago, in the spring and Autumn period, wild plum was introduced and domesticated to become the home plum, Guomei. In 1975, Chinese archaeologists found plum seeds in the Shang Dynasty bronze tripod in Anyang Yin Ruins, which indicates that plum seeds were used as food as early as 3200 years ago.

The rise of ornamental plum blossom began in the early Han Dynasty. "Miscellaneous records of Xijing" records: "in the early Han Dynasty, Shanglin garden was built, and famous fruits and different trees were offered in the distance, including Zhumei and yinzhimei. “。 At this time, the plum blossom variety should be a variety with both flower and fruit, which might belong to Jiangmei and guanfen. In the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, Yang Xiong wrote a Ode to the capital of Shu, which said: "cherry and plum trees are used as quilt, while magnolia trees are used as tree." It can be seen that about 2000 years ago, plum has been used as a garden tree for urban greening.

From the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the Five Dynasties (902-963), Yimei gradually flourished. It is said that during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Master Zhang an (561-632), the leader of Guoqing temple in Tiantai Mountain, Zhejiang Province, planted plum trees in front of the temple. Song Jing, a famous official in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "plum blossom Fu" with loan words such as "walking alone in the early spring, making the best of the sky". According to the records of poems, the plum varieties in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties mainly belonged to Jiangmei type or guanfen type. In Sichuan, cinnabar type varieties appeared in Tang Dynasty, which was called "Hongmei" at that time. According to the book of poetry of the whole Tang Dynasty, there are several red plum trees in Shuzhou County Pavilion. Today, there are many and good varieties of cinnabar in Chongqing county, which obviously has its historical roots.

Song Dynasty (960-1368) is the prosperous period of ancient Chinese plum art. The technique of Yimei has been greatly improved, and the variety of design and color has increased significantly. Fan Cheng's great work "Mei Pu" (about 1186) of the Southern Song Dynasty collected 12 varieties of Mei flower and introduced the methods of propagation and cultivation. This is the first monograph on Mei art in China and the world. In addition to Jiangmei type, guanfen type and cinnabar type, the book also introduces the unprecedented jade dish type, green calyx type and single apricot type. It belongs to apricot type, Huangxiang type and Hanmei type, etc. In addition, Zhou Xu's flowers and trees in Luoyang (1082) recorded zhushaxing (red plum) and other varieties. Zhang Ci's meipin (1185) and song Boren's banghuaxi (1239) are Monographs on plum blossom appreciation, poetry and painting.

In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a Wang Mian who loved, chanted and painted plum blossoms. His paintings and poems in Mo Mei are well-known. Zhao Mengzhao, Yang Weizhen, Xie zongke and Seng Mingben all have famous poems chanting plum. At present, in Caoxi temple on the other side of Kunming hot spring, there is a Yuanmei which was born more than 700 years ago. It is old and full of rainbow. It still blooms and bears fruit every year.

The cultivation techniques of plum blossom in Ming Dynasty were greatly improved, and a large number of new varieties appeared. Planting plum blossom was quite common in the society at that time, and the cultivation of plum blossom reached the height of prosperity. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the scale and level of Yimei continued to make progress, and its varieties also increased. In Qunfang Pu (1621), written by Wang Xiangjin of Ming Dynasty, there are as many as 19 plum varieties, which can be divided into three categories: white plum, red plum and exotic plum. Liu Shiru's Mei Zhu and Wang Lanxiao's Mei Shi all record plum blossoms.

In Huazhen (1688), written by Chen Haozi of the Qing Dynasty, there are 21 varieties of plum blossom, among which 'Taige' and 'zhaoshui' are all unprecedented new varieties. At that time, Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu and other places were famous for planting plum trees. Gong Zizhen (1792-1841) wrote in his "records of the sick plum Museum" that "Longpan in Jiangning, Dengwei in Suzhou and Xixi in Hangzhou all produce plum. "The records of Hanmei, Baimei, guanchunmei, zhaoshuimei, Zhusha Mei and lvcalyx Mei are very detailed in the county annals of Chengdu (1873). At that time, books, essays and paintings about plum blossoms vied with each other to be born. Among the "Yangzhou Eight monsters", the famous poets of plum blossoms, such as Jin Nong and Li Fangying, were known to the world.

After the revolution of 1911, plum cultivation entered the era of scientific and technological innovation and development. Prunus mume varieties from scattered cultivation to centralized nursery, from local and individual cultivation to national government investment for scientific research and large-scale development. Chinese scholars represented by Chen Junyu, academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering and professor of Beijing Forestry University, have established a new unified classification system of Chinese plum after decades of hard work, and published such masterpieces as the atlas of Chinese plum varieties and Chinese plum, which provide a scientific reference for the research, cultivation and popularization of plum.

morphological character

Prunus mume is a small tree, rare shrub, 4-10m high; bark is light gray or greenish, smooth; branchlets are green, smooth and glabrous. Leaf blade ovate or elliptic, 4-8 cm long, 2.5-5 cm wide, apex caudal tip, base broadly cuneate to round, margin often small acute serrate, gray green, pubescent on both sides when young, gradually falling off when growing, or only pubescent in axillary veins below; petiole 1-2 cm long, hairy when young, falling off when old, often glandular.

Flowers solitary or sometimes 2 in 1 bud, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, strongly fragrant, opening before leaves; pedicel short, 1-3 mm long, often glabrous; calyx usually reddish brown, but some varieties of calyx green or greenish purple; calyx tube broadly campanulate, glabrous or sometimes pubescent; sepals ovate or suborbicular, apex obtuse; petals obovate, white to pink; stamens short or slightly pubescent Longer than petals; ovary densely pilose, style short or slightly longer than stamens.

The fruit is nearly spherical, 2-3cm in diameter, yellow or greenish white, pilose and sour; the flesh adheres to the core; the core is oval, round at the top with a small protruding tip, tapered at the base, slightly flat on both sides, slightly obtuse at the ventral edge, with obvious longitudinal grooves on the ventral and dorsal edges, and honeycombed holes on the surface. The flowering period is winter and spring, and the fruiting period is from May to June (in North China, the fruiting period extends to July to August). 2n=16，24。

Major variants

Classification of varieties

There are two kinds of plum, Guomei and Huamei.

Fructus Mume

According to Professor Zeng Mian's investigation and research in Zhejiang, the cultivars of Fructus Mume can be roughly divided into three categories, which are briefly described as follows. < ol > < li > Prunus mume variety group: the fruit is yellow white, coarse in quality, bitter in taste, large in core and less in flesh, which is used for pruning. For example, big white head, Taigong species, etc. The mature period is in the first and middle of April. < / Li > < li > Qingmei group: the fruit is green or greenish yellow, sour or slightly bitter, with medium quality, most of which are used for making preserves. For example, April plum, may plum, baishuimei, etc. The mature period is in the middle and late April. < li > < li > Huamei variety group: the fruit is red or purplish red, with fine and crisp quality and slightly sour taste. It is used for making Chenpi plum and splitting plum. For example, routiao plum, Purple Plum, big leaf pig liver, rouge plum, etc. The mature period is from the first and middle of May to June.

Flower plum

Due to long-term cultivation, there are many varieties of Huamei. According to Professor Chen Junyu's recent research, they can be divided into the following four categories.

1、 Plums with straight feet（ Armeniacamumevar.mume ）According to the flower type and color, it can be divided into the following seven types. Jiangmei type（ Armeniacamumef.simplicifloraT . y. Chen) discoid, single, white, water red, flesh or pink. There are 29 varieties, such as Danfen, danfanhong, Yangguifei, xiaoyudie, Baimei, etc. < / Li > < li > armeniacamum

Chinese PinYin : Mei Zi