The whiteflower styrax tree is worthless, once cut down for firewood, yet its leaves are a rare treasure.

Nowadays in rural areas, as living standards improve, many farmer friends have also moved into bigger houses, but some habits still die hard, that is, they will open up a vegetable garden in their own backyard and plant some vegetables they like to eat or that are in season, such as pumpkins, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and so on, which can be picked and eaten at any time, and besides growing these common vegetables, many farmer friends will also plant some fruit trees and other trees.

In the afternoon, the author came to the home of an old farmer friend, and as soon as I entered the house I smelled a fresh fragrance. I thought this old farmer friend had sprayed something like floral water in the house to repel mosquitoes, but after asking I learned that no floral water or the like had been sprayed at all, but rather it was because of a kind of tree planted in the vegetable garden behind the house. The name of this tree is quite interesting, it is called "whiteflower styrax", but because its flowers are very distinctive, farmer friends also call it bailongtiao, xianglingzi, mengtongzi and so on.

Speaking of this wild tree called whiteflower styrax, many old farmer friends living near mountainous areas should recognize it, especially in the rural mountainous areas of Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, China, Guangdong and Guangxi, where this wild tree is most common.

The most distinctive feature of whiteflower styrax is that the whole plant gives off fragrance from time to time, which smells especially good. But in the past, because rural life was not as good as it is now, with natural gas, coal gas and so on, people basically went up the mountains to cut firewood for burning, and whiteflower styrax was one of them. Its trunk is relatively thin and easy to cut, so in the past it was often cut down for firewood.

But now rural living conditions are better, and there is no need to cut down trees like whiteflower styrax for firewood, and since it has a very pleasant fragrance, grows widely in the wild, and is not worth much, it has also become a kind of tree that many farmer friends like to plant.

But according to this old farmer friend in the village, planting this whiteflower styrax in the vegetable garden is not for smelling its fragrance, but for the value of the whole plant. After his introduction, the author learned that this whiteflower styrax not only gives off fragrance from the whole plant, but its leaves, roots and seeds are also rare treasures.

The first is that after August, once whiteflower styrax bears fruit, the seeds inside its fruit can be pressed for oil, and the seed oil produced can be used to make soap and lubricating oil, and the soap is very effective for washing clothes.

The second is that its leaves and roots are also a good medicine for treating illness, though few people know this. The roots of whiteflower styrax boiled in water and taken can treat stomachache, while its leaves pounded and applied externally can stop bleeding, promote tissue regeneration and reduce swelling. If you accidentally bump yourself, you can use its leaves to reduce the swelling.

Unexpectedly, such a worthless tree has so much value. Dear friends, do you know about "whiteflower styrax"? You are welcome to leave a message and share your thoughts!