Detailed Introduction to the Varieties of Golden Bullet (Diospyros armata) Bonsai
Golden Bullet, also known as Heitazi, and called Bottle Orchid because "its flowers are shaped like bottles and its fragrance resembles that of an orchid (detailed introduction)," is an evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus Diospyros in the family Ebenaceae, with black branches and thorns, and elliptical, dark green, glossy leaves.
Golden Bullet
Golden Bullet is mostly dioecious, occasionally monoecious. The flowers are blue-white, like bottles hanging from the branches, opening in April. Male plants produce more flowers. Each leaf axil on a short shoot bears 3 to 5 flowers arranged in a corymb, covered with downy hairs, with a flower stalk only 1 cm long, the flowers relatively small, and no green sepals at the base; the stamens inside the bottle-shaped corolla are visible, and after maturity pollen is released, with the flowers falling soon after blooming. Female plants produce fewer flowers; each leaf axil on a short shoot bears only 1 to 2 flowers, with a flower stalk about 3 cm long and slightly larger flowers, with 4 large green sepals at the base and no stamens inside the bottle-shaped corolla; after maturity no pollen is released, and fruit sets after flowering. The fruit may be elliptical, spherical, or gourd-shaped, with a single fruit weighing 5 to 20 grams. It is green at first and gradually turns orange-red after ripening in September. Its ornamental period is very long, and it does not fall through the winter, lasting until New Year's Day and the Spring Festival, still full of fresh fruit on the branches.
Rare Fruiting Golden Bullet Bonsai
Golden Bullet, scientific name Diospyros armata, also known as Pinglan, Cishi, and Bottle Orchid, is a semi-evergreen or evergreen shrub of the genus Diospyros in the family Ebenaceae. The stems of Golden Bullet are sturdy and upright, naturally twisted, and iron-colored, making it suitable for making stump bonsai. Golden Bullet blooms with pale yellow flowers in April, the flowers shaped like bottles and the fragrance like an orchid, hence the other name "Bottle Orchid"; after flowering, fruit sets in May, and after October the green fruit turns orange-red or orange-yellow, shaped like a pellet, hence the name "Golden Bullet." The fruit remains on the plant through the following spring without falling; the leaves are dark green, leathery, and glossy: it is an ornamental flower and plant beautiful in fruit, flower, and leaf alike. The stump bonsai of Golden Bullet has high economic value.
I. Origin and Variety Differences of Golden Bullet
Golden Bullet is distributed and cultivated in East China, South China, and Central China. Those currently on the market and exhibited are mainly from Sichuan and Hubei, but the Golden Bullet from the two places differs. Sichuan Golden Bullet has small leaves and many fruits; as long as it reaches the cultivation age, even very small stumps (small and miniature bonsai) can bear fruit in pots. Hubei Golden Bullet is divided into three types: large-leaf, medium-leaf, and small-leaf; large-leaf bears small fruit, medium-leaf bears large fruit, and small-leaf bears medium fruit. Some small stumps fail to bloom and bear fruit even after many years of cultivation. The greatest special trait of Hubei Golden Bullet is that it does not shed its leaves in winter. Every year from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival, the fruiting Golden Bullet turns from green to red among the green leaves, red and green setting each other off, with iron-like trunks and twisted branches, full of vitality.
II. How to Identify Male and Female Golden Bullet Plants
Because Golden Bullet is dioecious, potted Golden Bullet may either bear fruit or not. After years of observation and study, the author found that from tree shape, trunk bark color, leaf shape, leaf color, and leaf veins, it is impossible to accurately determine the sex of the stump; only by observing the flowers of Golden Bullet can male and female be accurately distinguished. A male plant has more than two flowers under each leaf bud, the flowers shaped like small lanterns, the flower base without claws, and when the flower opens the male stamens and pollen are visible. A female plant has only one to two flowers under each leaf bud, larger in form than male flowers, with four flower claws enclosing the flower center in a triangle; after the flower opens the claws spread out like a persimmon flower, and the young fruit is visible inside the flower.
III. Propagation, Cultivation, and Management of Golden Bullet
1. Seed propagation: After the 15th day of the first lunar month, pick the ripe fruit, take out the seeds, wash them clean, and dry them. In early April, soak them in hot water at about 30°C for 48 hours, then take them out and place them in a container that can drain water, cover with two layers of gauze, and, just like growing bean sprouts, pour clean water over the seeds once a day until the seeds split open and germinate, then sow them in a prepared seedbed. After routine management, the seedlings can be used to make small bonsai after three years.
2. Cuttings from female plant branches, whether new growth of the current year or old branches, can root. The key to successful rooting is paying attention to the season, that is, mid-April each year. Second, ensure the cutting bed environment is moist and the cuttings are fresh. If conditions permit, place the cutting bed in full sun, mist the cutting bed during the day, and stop at night. If conditions do not permit, place the cutting bed in a bright, ventilated, half-shade and half-sun location, and mist it four times a day with a sprayer to ensure the survival of Golden Bullet cuttings. Small bonsai made from cuttings can bear fruit after three years.
3. Digging old stumps from the wild: from November of the current year to April of the following year. On the premise of protecting the natural ecological environment, professionals may collect from the mountains in a planned way. Soak the collected old stumps in clean water for two hours first, then bury about 1/2 of the stump deeply in sandy soil, water thoroughly to settle the roots, and afterward simply keep the environment moist; the branches can grow to one meter in the same year, and in March of the following year they can be dug up, potted, pruned, and shaped, and in three to four years they can become a basically formed stump bonsai.
4. Routine care and management. For shaping Golden Bullet, metal wire can be used to set the form of the trunk and main branches. Later management should focus mainly on pruning, with wiring as a supplement. For potting, a mix of river sand, leaf mold, and loess in a 4:4:2 ratio can be used. After planting, water once thoroughly, place in a cool place for half a month, and then normal management can begin. After new buds emerge, apply decomposed liquid fertilizer once a month, with a fertilizer-to-water ratio of 1----10. Apply more fertilizer in spring and autumn, less in summer, and none in winter. Water so that the potting soil stays on the moist side; in summer, water thoroughly every night. In spring, autumn, and winter, water only when the potting soil is dry, and when watering, water thoroughly.
5. Fruit-setting cultivation: Because Golden Bullet is dioecious, during the flowering period of Golden Bullet, try as much as possible to have a male plant blooming near the female plant so as to allow natural pollination and increase the fruit-setting rate. If no male plant is blooming near the female plant, artificial pollination can be carried out. When the female flowers fall, the fruit is already attached to the flower base. At this time, spray 1:800 potassium dihydrogen phosphate twice at half-month intervals to increase the fruit-setting rate. In the ninth lunar month, similarly spray 1:600 urea water twice; this can make the fruit large and glossy. Golden Bullet cultivated and managed by this method has luxuriant branches and leaves from October of the current year to February of the following year, with red fruit all over the branches, giving a feeling of harvest, joy, and peaceful beauty.
Executive Editor: Yuhuagu
Golden Bullet Bonsai Sells Well in Xiangfan
News report: In the flower and bird market of Fancheng District, Xiangfan City, Hubei Province, in the Xiangtie Horticultural Bonsai Garden run by the brothers Zhang Guohu and Zhang Guobao, there are more than 500 bonsai of various kinds, including more than 120 Golden Bullet plants that have already borne fruit. The owner Zhang Guobao said that from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival last year, he sold more than 400 Golden Bullet plants in total, with the largest at 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan each, medium-sized at 200 yuan to 500 yuan, and small at 80 yuan to 100 yuan. On September 12 this year, the Zhang brothers purchased more than 200 Golden Bullet plants from Chengdu, Sichuan, and by mid-October had sold more than 130, with good returns. Boss Zhang said that the truly good business is from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival; those with many and red fruit sell without worry. He plans to purchase another batch of Golden Bullet to supply the New Year's Day and Spring Festival markets.
The photo shows Zhang Guobao (front row, first from the right) introducing Golden Bullet varieties and management methods to customers. (Photo and report by Zhao Huali and Guo Fangzhi)