Traditional object description

Perennial aquatic plants of Nelumbo of Nymphaeaceae. Also known as lotus, lotus, water hibiscus and so on. Lotus originally refers to its fruit, symmetrical lotus; After the flower, it is usually called lotus. The fat part of its underground stem is called lotus root. It is widely planted in the north and south of China, especially in Wuhan and Hangzhou. Lianxi enjoys relatively stable still water and avoids running water with great fluctuation and wind and waves. In general, the water depth should not exceed1.5m. The optimum temperature of stems and leaves in the growing season is 25 ~ 30℃. It needs plenty of sunshine, so it is not suitable for long-term indoor cultivation. Clay loam rich in organic matter is suitable for soil quality. Lotus seeds have a very long life span, and thousands of years old lotus seeds can sprout new plants. Lotus is often propagated by ramets or by sowing. It should be done after the warm spring. The main diseases of lotus are rot and leaf spot, and the pests are aphids and scarabs. It is a traditional method of gardening in China to build lotus in the pond and build a bridge pavilion according to the water to form a lotus viewing scenic spot, which is widely used in scenic spots all over the country. It is also suitable for decorating garden water surface, purifying water body or making potted plants. Lotus root and lotus seed are nutritious and suitable for raw and cooked food. Lotus root can be processed into lotus root powder, candied fruit and so on. Lotus seeds have a calming effect and are often used as soup or candied fruit, which is a good tonic for China people. Lotus petals and tender leaves can be used as food. All parts of the lotus can be used as medicine.

The scientific name of lotus is lotus, which belongs to the genus Nelumbo of Nymphaeaceae.

Lotus root It is one of the earliest species of angiosperms. According to the fossils studied by paleobotanists, lotus plants were distributed in many waters in the northern hemisphere10.35 billion years ago. At that time, in the late period of the rapid decline of the giant reptile dinosaur, its growth time on the earth was much earlier than the appearance of human ancestors (2 million years ago). According to Paleobotany (1965) by A.H. Christophevich of the former Soviet Union, lotus fossils have been found in Cretaceous strata in the Arctic of North America and amur river Basin of Asia (i.e. Heilongjiang), as well as Oligocene and Miocene strata in Europe and East Asia (Sakhalin Island) and Japan. At that time, the temperature on the earth was warmer than it is now. There were about 10~ 12 species of lotus plants distributed in five continents. With the advent of the post-glacial period, the global temperature dropped, making many plants extinct, while others were forced to drift away, completely breaking the original geographical distribution. Because of this disaster, two varieties of lotus survived, and their distribution range narrowed. Chinese lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is distributed in Asia and northern Oceania, and N.lutea drifts to North America. Paleobotanists also pointed out that the lotus fossils from Pleistocene to Holocene (2 million years ago) excavated in Hokkaido and Kyoto are similar to modern China lotus; The lotus leaf fossils unearthed in Qaidam Basin, China, 6.5438+million years ago are similar to modern China lotus. In 1970s, China Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development Planning, Ministry of Petrochemical Industry and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences recorded in the book "Early Tertiary Sporopollen in Coastal Areas of Bohai Sea" that two kinds of lotus pollen fossils were found in Panshan, Liaoning, Beidagang, Tianjin, Kenli, Guangrao, Shandong and Cangzhou, Hebei. Fossils of the genus Nelumbo were also found in the strata of Changchang Basin in Qiongshan, Hainan Island, China, in the Tertiary tropical phytogeographical region. At present, the original wild lotus is still distributed in lakes and swamps in Fuyuan, Hulin, Tongjiang and Shangzhi counties of Heilongjiang Province. The above shows that lotus is an ancient plant before the Ice Age, which belongs to the representative of relict plant, such as Paeonia suffruticosa, Ginkgo biloba, Liriodendron chinense in China, Sequoia sempervirens and so on. , not swallowed by the glaciers of the ice age and survived.

Mystery of waterproof and self-cleaning of Erlianye

Numerous micron-sized waxy papillae structures are attached to the surface of lotus leaves. When observing these papillae with electron microscope, we can see that many nanoparticles with similar structures are attached to the surface of each micron-sized papillae, which scientists call the micro-nano dual structure of lotus leaf. It is these tiny double structures that make the contact area between the lotus leaf surface and water droplets or dust very limited, so there is a phenomenon that water droplets roll on the leaf surface and take away dust. Water will not stay on the surface of lotus leaves.

Scientific explanation of three kinds of fracture relations

When it comes to lotus, it is natural to mention lotus root. Holland belongs to Nymphaeaceae, a perennial herb planted in shallow ponds. Its stem was born in the mud and transformed into rhizome, that is, lotus root, also called lotus root. Lotus root grows horizontally in silt and absorbs nutrients by fibrous roots on the base stem. Lotus root has been a favorite food since ancient times, because its meat is crisp and tender, slightly sweet, contains a lot of starch and is rich in nutrition.

When we break the lotus root, we can observe that countless long white lotus roots are connected between the broken lotus roots. Why is this happening?

It is necessary to observe the structure of lotus root. It turns out that the tissues needed for plants to grow and transport water and nutrients are called ducts and tracheids. These tissues extend in all directions in plants and are as unimpeded as blood vessels in animals in leaves, stems, flowers, fruits and other organs.

The inner wall of the plant vessel will be particularly thickened at a certain position, forming various textures, some are annular, some are trapezoidal and some are reticulate. The thickened part of the lotus root catheter wall is continuous spiral, which is called spiral catheter. When the lotus root breaks, the spiral part of the inner wall of the catheter is separated and becomes a spiral filament with a diameter of only 3 ~ 5 microns. These filaments are much like stretched springs and will not break within the elastic limit. Generally, it can be stretched to about 10 cm.

Lotus root silk not only exists in lotus root, but also exists in lotus stem and lotus leaf, but is thinner. If you pick a lotus stalk, try to break it into several pieces and lift it like a long string of small green lanterns. It is this filament that connects these little green lanterns. This kind of filament looks very similar. If you look at it under a microscope, you will find that it is actually composed of 3 ~ 8 thinner filaments, just like a cotton yarn is composed of countless cotton fibers.

The delicate lingering of lotus root silk has long attracted the attention of the ancients. There is a sentence in Qufu, a poem written by Meng Jiao in the Tang Dynasty: "My heart is in the lotus root, although it is broken, it is still connected". Later, people used the idiom "broken silk" to describe that although the relationship was broken, the relationship was still connected.

Mystery of germination of ancient lotus in 4000 years

Ms. Shen is a botanist at UCLA. She cultivates all kinds of plants in the laboratory, but she cherishes two ancient lotus trees most-they are both about 500 years old.

"Ordinary flowers can only live for a few years." Ms. Shen said: "These two ancient lotus trees are very different. Their seeds have been baptized for hundreds of years and now they have sprouted and blossomed. "

Gulian, who has been sleeping for thousands of years, woke up.

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