Heather is an excellent green plant species, why is it so controversial?

Heather is an excellent green plant species, why is it so controversial?

Heather is a small tree with evergreen, leathery leaves. It is often planted alone or used as a street tree. Heather is a cluster of very small white flowers, which look a bit unattractive compared to magnolia. Heather has a bit of a fishy smell, but the blooming period of heather is only more than a week, and there are 52 weeks in a year. It is an excellent landscaping species for almost 51 weeks. As for the smell, it will pass after a while.

In this spring when hundreds of flowers are blooming, many urban green plants are quite popular and have unexpectedly become "Internet celebrities". Some time ago, the sea of ​​magnolia flowers on Yatang Street in the urban area became popular among friends and became a rare beauty in the urban area last month. In the past few days, another green plant, heather, has bloomed, instantly becoming the focus of heated discussion among many Jinhua netizens.

Heather has luxuriant branches. The branches can naturally develop into a round crown and are evergreen all year round. Its leaves are emerald green and glossy. In early spring, young branches and young leaves are purple-red. The branches and leaves are dense. Parts of the old leaves turn red after autumn. White flowers are densely grown in summer. After autumn, bright red fruits are all over the branches. They are bright and eye-catching. It is an ornamental plant. A highly valuable evergreen broad-leaved tree, it is more effective as a shade tree or as a hedge.

Heather

Different from the beauty of the magnolia sea, heather is a cluster of very small white flowers, which looks a bit unattractive. What everyone is talking about is not the appearance of this white flower, but the smell it emits. Citizen Xiao Ji complained in his circle of friends: I was visiting a university in Jinhua recently, and I smelled a very strange smell wafting in the air in some places. It smelled stinky and was a bit unbearable. Later I discovered that there were many heathers planted on the roadside, and the white heathers were blooming.

Reporter's investigation: The smell is very strong, not necessarily caused by heather

Xiaoji then contacted the reporter and said that it was difficult for him to understand that the flowers of this plant were not counted. It’s beautiful but smells so bad, why would it be planted on campus?

Yesterday, the reporter came to a certain university in Jinhua that Xiao Ji mentioned. As soon as he entered the old gate of the school, he could smell an obvious odor.

Looking towards the roadside, there are indeed more than 10 heather trees staggered in the green belt on the roadside of the old campus. These trees look to be old, with huge crowns and lush branches and leaves. Clusters of small white flowers are hidden among the round leaves. The unpleasant smell Xiao Ji mentioned is emanating from these inconspicuous little flowers.

However, the reporter also found that although the fishy smell was particularly obvious from a distance, the strange thing was that when he got closer and smelled it, the heather flowers even had a slight fragrance. This smell spread in the air. It gradually changed.

Students passing by told reporters that now is not the time when the smell is the heaviest. A few days ago, the small flowers bloomed more vigorously. When the weather is good and the sun shines, the unpleasant smell becomes even worse. obvious.

Feng Lihong of Jinhua Zhongjing Landscaping Construction and Maintenance Co., Ltd. is an expert in urban greening plants. After comparing the photos taken by reporters at the scene, he found that the plants emitting strange smells were not heather, but pittosporum. Pittosporum, like heather, develops into a rounded crown and has clusters of white flowers. Therefore, the two are easily confused. The difference is that the petals of pittosporum are larger and relatively smooth.

“There are many plants around us that emit bursts of smell. If you find the smell unpleasant, it is not necessarily the fault of heather.”

Heather

Feng Lihong told reporters that heather is a relatively excellent landscaping plant. It has many advantages: it is evergreen all year round, has a high survival rate in cultivation, is easy to plant and maintain, and is resistant to pruning. Moreover, its growth rate is neither too fast nor too slow, just right. The branches are lush and leafy, and the branches can naturally develop into a round crown, which looks neat and not messy. In early spring, the young leaves of young branches are purple-red, and the branches and leaves are luxuriant. After the autumn, some parts of the old leaves turn red. In summer, white flowers bloom densely. In autumn, bright red fruits are all over the branches. They are bright and eye-catching. Leaf tree. In addition, heather also has the ability to resist sulfur dioxide and absorb harmful gases such as formaldehyde. It is an excellent tree species for greening in factories, mining areas and other places.

It turns out that heather has so many advantages. Feng Lihong said that as for some citizens who think its smell is unpleasant, at least the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The blooming period of heather is only a few weeks. Considering that it is loyal to its duty to purify the air all year round, the patience is over.

It is understood that many urban green plants have their own shortcomings. For example, in spring and summer, rows of French plane trees on the roadside are covered with wooly objects. When a gust of wind blows, the flying catkins cause many people with allergies to suffer: eyesight, nose irritation, and throat itching. ...Such street trees do cause trouble to some citizens.

However, because heather is rarely cultivated in Jinhua, this green plant is rare in Jinhua. In other words, if citizens want to smell this strange smell, they can’t smell it everywhere. "Wuhan has planted a lot of heather," Feng Lihong said.

"The relatively common one in Jinhua is the 'brother' of Heather. It is a popular variety sold by many nursery dealers. It is smaller than Heather." It is usually used in urban greening. , most of them are small seedlings of red-leaf Photinia.

It is understood that the commonly mentioned heather is a small tree with evergreen leaves and leathery leaves. It is often planted alone or used as a street tree. The red-leafed Photinia is a hybrid variety of the Photinia genus. Its leaves are usually red and it is a foliage plant. It is often planted in clusters or in patches, and can also be used as a hedge.

Some experts said that in densely populated areas, if you really feel that the smell of heather is unpleasant, you can moderately prune it before it blooms, which can reduce the impact of the smell of heather on people. Citizens with allergies or respiratory diseases are advised to avoid or wear a mask if they encounter strange-smelling flowers like heather.

Heather has certain medicinal value

According to relevant records, the real name of Heather is "Heather", which was recorded as early as "Famous Doctors" written in the late Han Dynasty. Listed as "low grade" in Materia Medica. According to Li Shizhen's explanation, because this plant "grows in sunny places between rocks", it is called "Heather".

Wang Guojun, director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Pharmacy of Jinhua Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, believes that although the smell of heather makes some people uncomfortable, there is no need to make a fuss as it will not cause harm to the human body. On the contrary, heather is also a herbal medicine. Its leaves can be used as medicine and can be used for headaches, weak waist and knees, and rheumatic muscle and bone pain.

As for its efficacy, the "Ben Cao Illustration" says this: Heather, a very tall plant, grows in rivers and lakes, has leaves like loquat leaves, with small thorns, does not wither in the winter, and produces white flowers in spring. , in clusters, with fine red fruits in autumn. The leaves grown between Guanlong and Guanlong are like grass, green and yellow, with purple spots on the back. If there is a lot of rain, they grow side by side. They are two to three inches long. The roots are thin and purple, with no flowers. The leaves are very dense. People from the north and south often transplant them. In the courtyard, the shadows are lovely and airtight. For medicinal purposes, those with fine leaves from Guanzhong are good.

Shi Hongwen, a senior engineer at Wuhan Institute of Horticulture Science, said that each plant should be viewed in two. Generally speaking, the advantages of heather far outweigh its disadvantages. "Heather is a native tree species in Wuhan, Hubei. It does not have strict requirements for planting conditions. It is easy to plant and maintain, resistant to pruning, and can absorb harmful gases and dust. It is very suitable for the environment and climate conditions of Wuhan."

Shi Hongwen According to the introduction, currently, heather is widely used in landscaping in Wuhan and is distributed in the main streets. Citizens smell the pungent smell commonly known as "heather". "In areas where citizens gather, if you really feel that the smell of heather is unpleasant, you can prune it appropriately before it blooms, which can reduce the impact of the smell of heather on people."

Who can understand the grievances of heather? "The blooming period of Heather is only a little over a week, and there are 52 weeks in a year. It is a very good landscaping species for almost 51 weeks. As for the smell, it will pass after you tolerate it." Wang Xiaofan, a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Wuhan University, said that Heather is A tree species of the Rosaceae family, Photinia, is evergreen all year round. It has red leaves and white flowers in spring, and the fruits it bears in autumn and winter are red. The bark of the tree, in particular, looks very "vicissitudes of life" and has very good ornamental value.