This fruit looks like a bayberry, falls all over the ground with no one eating it, don't miss out on it for tonifying the kidneys and brightening the eyes

In my memory, back in my hometown there was a kind of tree with dense leaves, and every year from July to September it would bear a bright red fruit that looked like a bayberry; apart from birds pecking at it, nobody ever picked it to eat, and every time I passed by, I could always see the ground covered with fallen fruit.

This tree is the paper mulberry, and its fruit is the paper mulberry fruit, also called chu tao zi; as a child I only knew that its leaves were cut to make feed, and when I was craving something I would secretly eat a couple of the berries without the adults knowing, though if they found out I would get a beating, so I rarely ate them.

The paper mulberry is a very common tree, generally reaching over 16 m, and it is also a fast-growing species that grows very quickly. It can survive in both China's temperate and tropical zones, and it is not picky about its environment; just look at the paper mulberries in the countryside, growing wild with no one planting them at all, but rather their seeds sprouting on their own, slowly growing into tall trees one by one.

The paper mulberry blooms every year from May to June, and after the flowers fade, the long style of its pistil shrivels while the ovary at the base swells, turns red, and becomes fleshy, turning into the red paper mulberry fruit we see.

Generally speaking, however, the paper mulberry fruit ripens in autumn, and at this time it can be picked and eaten directly, though the outside of the fruit has a large amount of slime, so before eating you must first remove the impurities on it, and it is truly not easy to wash clean.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the paper mulberry fruit is also called chu shi zi or paper mulberry seed, and it has the effects of nourishing the liver and brightening the eyes, tonifying the kidneys, promoting urination and reducing swelling, and strengthening the bones and muscles; moreover, it looks bright red and tastes sweet with a slight sourness, with a pleasant mouthfeel. Thinking about it now, it is a pity to have missed out on such a good thing.