White champaca: a tree in South China, a potted plant in East China

White champaca is not a white orchid.

In different places, white champaca carries different meanings. In the memories of Suzhou and Shanghai residents, at this time every year, there are elderly women carryingwhite champaca flowers strung on wire, calling out in the soft Wu dialect; in the impression of Lingnan people, it is therows of street treesalong the roadside, and just walking beneath them, you can smell a faint, hidden fragrance; in Yunnan, people call itMian gui hua, accompanied by the melodious tune of "Mian gui hua blooms ten li of fragrance," witnessing friendship between nations.

Strings of subtle fragrance. Image: Taihu Meizi / sohu.com

White champaca in its prime

White champaca (Michelia×alba) is a member of the genus Michelia in the family Magnoliaceae. We discussed this genus back in April this year, when the "genus head"Michelia figowas in bloom, whilethe peak blooming season of white champaca has only just arrived。

The observant reader may notice that there is a cross in the Latin name of white champaca, which means that white champaca is actually ahybrid species. Its parent species areyellow champaca(M. champaca) andM. montana(M. montana), a situation similar to that of Hong Kong, China's city flower, the Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia×blakeana).

Yellow champaca on the left, white champaca on the right. Image: El Denis Conrado & Fightingfalcon2005 / wikimedia

The English name of white champaca, white champaca, looks very similar to the scientific name of one of its parents, yellow champaca (M. champaca), and in fact their plant appearances are also very similar.

Yellow champaca is occasionally cultivated in South China, and is more common in Southeast Asia. The Indian poet Tagore's "The Champa Flower" refers to it. At a rough glance, apart from the yellow flowers, yellow champaca is no different from white champaca; without looking at the flowers, one can basically onlydistinguish them by the hairs on the underside of the leaves and the subtle features of the petioles. However, yellow champaca can bear fruit normally, whilewhite champaca, possibly because it is a hybrid, usually cannot bear fruit, which is also similar to the Hong Kong orchid tree.

White champaca - from bud to full bloom. Image: CommonsDara / wikimedia

Perhaps also because it is a hybrid,the original place of origin of white champaca can no longer be verified,and judging from its parents, it should be the Southeast Asian region. It is said that China's white champaca was brought back from Indonesia by Zheng He's fleet during the Ming Dynasty, but some may also have been introduced from Myanmar, which is why it has the name "Mian gui hua."

In 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai and then Myanmar Prime Minister U Ba Swe planted two white champaca trees in Mangshi, Yunnan, symbolizing lasting China-Myanmar friendship. Today, the two white champaca trees, having weathered the storms, are lush and green.

The two white champaca trees planted that year. Image: Yang Bangqing

On the flower tray, on the lapel

Using white champaca flowers to make ornaments has already become a tradition."White champaca, pinned in the hair, tucked on the lapel..." This old Shanghai song from the 1930s, with the charm of an old gramophone, has been passed down to this day.

Usually,the elderly flower sellers cleverly string pairs of white champaca flowers together with fine wire, place them on a small tray, and gently cover them with a thin layer of gauze; a pair of flowers costs only one or two yuan.Pin such a string of white champaca on your collar, and wherever you go you can be surrounded by fragrance, and it also adds quite a fresh, delicate feel.

The elderly woman's flower basket - does it bring back childhood memories? Image: Hanxiao

In the past, young women in Suzhou and Shanghai loved to dress themselves up this way. Perhaps in those old days, every girl who walked slowly past the Bund speaking the soft Wu dialect had a pair of white champaca flowers on her lapel.

That girl in memory - has she, along with the white champaca, gradually been forgotten? Image: sohu.com

White champaca taken home can be placed in a small teacup with a little clear water; you can continue to immerse yourself in the floral fragrance, and it can also become a jade-carving-like little ornament on the tea table; if that is still not enough, it can also be brewed into flower tea. However, relatively speaking,the fragrance of white champaca made into flower tea is already greatly reduced, so it is not as common as jasmine tea.

Too cold, so it won't grow tall

Although Jiangnan has so many memories associated with white champaca, it is hard to see white champaca trees on the streets, because this is, after all, a plant from Southeast Asia,and the winter in the free-shipping region is simply too cold for it. Therefore,white champaca in East China can only be grown as a potted plant; once winter comes, flower growers in Suzhou can only gather them all into greenhouses, and they cannot be brought out again until after Qingming.

A white champaca at the home of Calendar Lady's friend. Image: Calendar Lady

But inSouth Chinait is completely different.White champaca returns to its nature as a large evergreen tree, and in parks, schools, and along roadsides, white champaca trees can be seen everywhere. In front of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, there are two white champaca trees, with trunk diameters approaching one meter and crowns covering an area of several hundred square meters.

Standing beneath the white champaca tree, you can both smell the fragrance and enjoy its shade. Image: Forest & Kim Starr / wikimedia

In some places, white champaca is called "yulan," and the city flower of Chaozhou, Guangdong, "yulan hua," refers to white champaca. In fact,the true yulan magnolia (Yulania denudata) is a deciduous tree, with no leaves when it blooms, and it is not common in Guangdong.

White champaca is not only fragrant in its flowers,its leaves also have a special fragrance; walking along a small path lined with white champaca on both sides, you will smell the bursts of fresh fragrance from the fallen leaves trampled beneath the trees.

White champaca leaves are also very popular withthe common bluebottle(Graphium doson). This butterfly, with its beautiful blue markings, lays eggs on the leaves, letting the white champaca trees raise their offspring. If you carefully observe the white champaca leaves by the roadside and find traces of nibbling, you can usually find common bluebottle larvae, large or small, nearby. Like silkworms, they do not sting, and if you are interested, you can even take them home and raise them until they pupate and become butterflies.

Adult and pupa of the common bluebottle. Image: Peellden & School of Ecology and Conservation / wikimedia

In today's rapidly developing economy, under the pressure of livelihood and tight land,the space left for flower growers and flower sellers is shrinking, and people's love for white champaca seems to have gradually faded. Fewer and fewer elderly women come out to sell flowers in summer, and perhaps in the future white champaca in Jiangnan really will remain only in memory. Fortunately, white champaca can be potted, and if winter protection measures are taken well, it can bloom all over the country.

Picking a single richly fragrant white champaca flower can make our lives, and ourselves, more white and fragrant.

On the streets of Suzhou, finding a pair of gardenia and white champaca. Image: Hanxiao

This article is the 171st article of the 4th year of Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @Hanxiao.

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Magnoliaceae, Michelia figo var. purpurea