What are the characteristics of plum blossoms? Let us learn about the unique qualities of plum blossoms
The plum blossom is a deciduous tree of the genus Prunus in the rose family (Rosaceae); the term sometimes also refers to its fruit (the plum) or its flower (the plum blossom). It usually blooms in winter and spring, and together with the orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum it is listed among the "Four Gentlemen", while together with the pine and bamboo it is known as one of the "Three Friends of Winter". Thanks to its cold tolerance it has become the flower that represents winter. Let us take a look below at what characteristics the plum blossom has!
The external characteristics of the plum blossom
The plum blossom is a small tree, rarely a shrub, 4-10 m tall, with bark that is light gray or tinged with green, green branchlets, and leaves that are ovate or elliptical, with a caudate-acuminate tip, a broadly cuneate to rounded base, and leaf margins that often bear small sharp serrations. The flowers are solitary or sometimes two together in one bud, strongly fragrant, opening before the leaves; the pedicel is short, the calyx is usually reddish-brown, the calyx tube is broadly campanulate, the sepals are ovate or nearly round, and the petals are obovate and white to pink. The fruit is nearly spherical, sour in taste, with the flesh adhering to the stone; the stone is elliptical. The flowering period is winter and spring, and the fruiting period is May to June (in North China the fruiting period extends to July to August).
The growth characteristics of the plum blossom
The plum blossom prefers a warm climate and is not strongly cold-hardy. Apart from cultivars of the apricot plum group, which can withstand low temperatures of -25°C, it generally withstands low temperatures of -10°C. It is relatively drought-tolerant and not tolerant of waterlogging, and it is long-lived, reaching a thousand years. It is especially sensitive to climate change during the flowering period, prefers relatively high air humidity, but dislikes heavy rain. It tolerates high temperatures and can still grow at 40°C, and it grows and develops best in areas with an annual average temperature of 16-23°C. It is very sensitive to temperature and blooms when the average temperature in early spring reaches -5 to 7°C; if low temperatures occur, the flowering period is delayed, and if low temperatures occur while it is blooming, the flowering period can be prolonged.
The spiritual characteristics of the plum blossom
1. The plum blossom is the first to open in the severe cold, and then it brings forth the fragrance given off by the profusion of a hundred flowers. Therefore, like the chrysanthemum, the plum blossom has been admired and praised by poets. Chen Liang of the Song dynasty wrote in "Plum Blossom": "One flower suddenly changes first, and all the hundred flowers are fragrant after." The poet seized on the trait of the plum blossom being the first to open and wrote of the quality of fearing no blows or setbacks and daring to be first in the world; it praises the plum and also praises himself. Wang Anshi's "Plum Blossom": "From afar I know it is not snow, for a subtle fragrance comes." The lines not only describe how the plum blossom's fragrance spreads far on the wind, but also subtly express the plum blossom's purity and whiteness, achieving an artistic effect in which both fragrance and color are excellent. Lu You's famous ci poem "Ode to the Plum Blossom": "Scattered and fallen, trampled into dust, only the fragrance remains as before." He used the plum blossom as a metaphor for his own unfortunate fate of being repeatedly battered and for his noble integrity in refusing to join the muddied crowd. The Yuan dynasty writer Wang Mian's "Ink Plum": "I do not want people to praise my color as good, I only wish to leave pure qi filling heaven and earth." This, too, uses the ice-pure and jade-clean plum blossom to reflect his own quality of refusing to go along with the crowd, with simple words and deep meaning.
2. The plum blossom still blooms unyieldingly in the cold winter, symbolizing that our nation's precious qualities of unyielding perseverance, tenacious striving, and fearlessness of hardship are all well embodied in it. In ancient times we already had poets who sang in verse in praise of the plum blossom: "A few branches of plum by the corner of the wall, blooming alone in the cold. From afar I know it is not snow, for a subtle fragrance comes." The plum blossom is also regarded as the flower species with the greatest moral integrity. In addition, although the plum blossom grows in harsh environments, it still blooms joyfully, expressing an optimistic character that welcomes hope. Since ancient times people have praised its spirit of defying the snow, and its solitary, noble beauty in not contending with the hundred flowers for spring.