The wild flavor of wild chrysanthemums holds the taste of carefree childhood days
Wild chrysanthemum, what we call little sun flower here. I have seen yellow ones and white ones, and another kind that is slightly purple.
Wild chrysanthemum has extremely strong adaptability - hillsides and wetlands, roadsides and pond edges, in front of and behind houses, all over the mountains and plains, as long as the temperature is suitable, it can grow anywhere there is soil.
The flowers that wild chrysanthemum produces are very beautiful, with relatively small blooms, extremely abundant flowering, and bright colors. They have the charm of chrysanthemums and also the look of sunflower blooms. When they bloom in masses, their fragrance drifts across the mountains and plains.
When I was little, the adults were busy farming, and the children were mostly left to run free. Our favorite game was catching butterflies in the grass among the wild chrysanthemum bushes. We would take a homemade net, tie it to a long wooden stick, move in a little closer, then suddenly swoop - and the butterfly was in the net. After catching one, we would compare whose butterfly had the prettier colors. What a carefree childhood!
Children today only see wild chrysanthemums in parks, and they are not allowed to damage the flowers, grass, or trees! After cultivation, the flower colors have increased to include bright red and light pink, and other colors too, but they have all lost that wild charm!
The entire wild chrysanthemum plant can be used as medicine, with extremely high medicinal value, and some flower growers cultivate it specifically! Preventing colds, clearing heat and detoxifying, dispelling wind and reducing fever, and so on - this is clearly recorded in medical books, but we must not use it as medicine on our own just because it has medicinal value!
However, its flowers can be collected, dried in the sun, and brewed as tea. The taste is really quite good, and it is absolutely safe to drink, non-toxic and harmless. The tender shoots of wild chrysanthemum can also be eaten, whether served cold or stir-fried, both are good.
Some flower enthusiasts even dig up wild chrysanthemums and take them home, growing them in flower pots and placing them on balconies and bay windows. Amid a touch of verdant green are fully blooming little sun flowers, the flowers moving with the wind, the wind carrying the floral fragrance - very beautiful!