What are "Buddhist-style plants"? Come and find out

You are surely already very familiar with the recently popular "Buddhist-style youth,"

do you know what "Buddhist-style plants" are?

Today, the editor will introduce you to the ones that truly exist in reality

"Buddhist-style plants"~

Buddhist scriptures stipulate that in monasteries

five kinds of trees and six kinds of flowers must be planted

Five Trees

Sacred fig, lofty fig, talipot palm, areca palm, palmyra palm

Six Flowers

Lotus, poison bulb, yellow ginger lily, frangipani, Michelia champaca, Musella lasiocarpa

Five Trees

Sacred fig

Ficus religiosa L.

A large tree species of the genus Ficus in the mulberry family

When young, it grows as an epiphyte on other trees; leaves are leathery

Triangular-ovate, with three basal veins

Petioles are slender; figs are spherical to oblate

Style is slender, stigma is narrow

Flowering period March-April, fruiting period May-June

The original Sanskrit name of the sacred fig is "Pippala tree"

Because Shakyamuni attained enlightenment under the sacred fig tree

It came to be called the sacred fig tree; "Bodhi" means "enlightenment"

Even today, Hindu sadhus often meditate under sacred fig trees

In jungle temples across India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar

Sacred fig trees are widely planted; India has designated it as its national tree

Lofty fig

Ficus altissima Bl.

A large tree of the mulberry family, also known as the lofty fig, distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi,

southern Yunnan; also found in Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and Ceylon,

mostly growing in mountain forests.

The aerial roots and prop roots of the lofty fig are especially vigorous

so it not only strangles its host plants

but also easily forms a single tree that becomes a forest

Although the fruits of the lofty fig are relatively small, they grow in especially large numbers

When ripe, countless small fruits on the branches look like red coral

Attracting many kinds of birds and animals to compete for food, creating a lively scene

In the long Dai historical poem "Lifeng" of Xishuangbanna, it is said

that it is "endowed with spirits"

During the flowering season, multiple kinds of flowers often bloom on the same tree

Thus forming a scene of flourishing blooms and brilliant colors

Talipot palm

Corypha umbraculifea Linn

Belonging to the genus Corypha in the palm family, it is an evergreen tree native to tropical Asia,

It usually grows about 20 m tall, tall and majestic

The trunk is straight, round, and without branches

The crown is like a giant umbrella, and the leaves spread out like a palm

Giving people a sense of solemnity and vitality

It is an excellent tree species for greening the environment in tropical regions

Produced in Myanmar, India, and Sri Lanka, it can be used for ornamental purposes

The renowned "Palm-leaf manuscript" in Buddhism

is made from the leaves of the talipot palm

Some people believe the talipot palm is a marker tree of geography and ethnic culture

Wherever there are tropical regions, wherever there is Buddhism, there is the talipot palm

The Dai people of the Xishuangbanna region

regard the palm leaf as a symbol of their cultural development

and often take pride in it

They even deify the talipot palm

believing that only a sincerely devout Buddhist master can successfully grow it

Areca palm

Areca catechu L.

An evergreen tree of the genus Areca in the palm family, with an upright stem

Tree-like, over 10 m tall, with a maximum height of up to 30 m

With obvious ring-like leaf scars, monoecious

Inflorescences are much branched; ovary is oblong

Fruit is oblong or ovoid

Seeds are ovate; flowering and fruiting period March-April

The appearance of the areca palm is similar to that of the coconut palm

With a tall, upright trunk and branches and leaves facing the wind, it is elegant and lovely

The fruit of the areca palm is edible; in some southern places, people

have the habit of chewing areca nut; the more they chew, the more fragrant it becomes, with a mellow taste that intoxicates

Areca nut is also a medicinal material, with functions such as stopping diarrhea and treating dysentery, killing insects, and removing stagnation

Also known as "miasma-clearing elixir"

Palmyra palm

Borassus flabellifer L

Evergreen tree; leaves palmately divided

Most segments have shallowly 2-cleft tips

Flowers unisexual, dioecious, in much-branched spadix-like inflorescences

Spathe conspicuous. Fruits are numerous, with dozens clustered around the crown

The size of a ball, golden and glossy, can be placed indoors for decoration

The palmyra palm is also called the sugar palm

People like to score the inflorescence with a small knife

Then the sap of the inflorescence flows along the knife into a bucket

Its sap is very sweet, like granulated sugar.

One inflorescence can produce 4 small buckets of sweet sap

The pinnate leaves of the palmyra palm are oil-green all year round

Huge and dense, like a natural canopy

Blocking the scorching tropical sunlight

And also like great green umbrellas one after another

Giving people a cool green shade; it can be planted in courtyards in groups

Six Flowers

Lotus

Lotus flower

Belonging to the order Proteales, family Nelumbonaceae, it is the general name for two species of plants in the genus Nelumbo

Also known as lotus flower, water hibiscus, etc.

It is a perennial aquatic herbaceous flower of the genus Nelumbo

The underground stem is long and thick, with long nodes; leaves are peltate and round

Flowering period June to September, solitary at the tip of the pedicel, with many petals

Embedded in the receptacular pits, in colors such as red, pink, white, and purple

Or with colored patterns and borders. Nutlets are elliptical; seeds are ovate

The lotus is one of China's top ten famous flowers

It is also the national flower of India; the lotus is a symbol of purity

And even more so a symbol of the sacred purity of Buddhism

Since Zhou Dunyi of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote in "On the Love of the Lotus"

the famous lines "emerging from mud yet unstained, rinsed in clear ripples yet not seductive"

the lotus has become "the flower of the gentleman"

Poison bulb

Crinum asiaticum

Also known as poison bulb, eighteen scholars, emerald embankment flower, etc.

It is a plant of the genus Crinum in the amaryllis family

The name poison bulb may make people mistake this variety for an orchid family plant

But in fact this variety is a perennial robust herbaceous plant of the amaryllis family

Flowering period June-August, emitting fragrance in the evening

Tepals are white, linear; stamens are pale red

Anthers are linear, gradually pointed at the tip; ovary is spindle-shaped

Fruit is nearly spherical, usually with 1 seed

Poison bulb is designated by Buddhist monasteries as one of the "five trees and six flowers"

(that is, the five kinds of trees and six kinds of flowers that Buddhist scriptures stipulate must be planted in monasteries)

So it is widely planted. Poison bulb has beautiful flowers and leaves and high ornamental value

It can be used as a embellishment for green spaces in garden scenic areas, campuses, and institutions, and lawns in residential communities

It can also be used as a courtyard decorative flower, and can also serve as a hedge around buildings

Yellow ginger lily

Hedychium flavum Roxb.

A perennial herbaceous aromatic flowering plant of the genus Hedychium in the ginger family

Blooms in autumn and winter, with a spike-like inflorescence, oblong

Bracts are oblong, imbricate, with 3-5 flowers in each bract

Flowers are deep yellow, shaped like butterflies, with a pure and fragrant scent that refreshes the heart

The lip is obcordate, yellow, with an orange blotch in the center.

The apex is slightly concave, and the lateral staminodes are short and petal-like.

The flowers open in sequence from bottom to top, and are extremely beautiful.

Under natural cultivation, each bract can produce 3-5 flowers, and the flowering period of each stem lasts about 30 days.

Hedychium flavum is native to Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan,

Guizhou, Guangxi, and India, growing in dense forests in valleys.

The flower color is deep yellow, vivid, and fragrant.

The flowering period of Hedychium flavum is from August to September.

When in bloom it has a faint fragrance, very charming.

A mature Hedychium flavum is about 1 m 8 in height.

Plumeria

Plumeria rubra L. cv. Acutifolia

Also known as frangipani, egg-yolk flower, Indian jasmine, and dajihua.

A deciduous shrub or small tree of the genus Plumeria in the family Apocynaceae.

The branchlets are thick and fleshy. The leaves are large, thickly papery, and mostly clustered at the tips of the branches.

The veins join into a marginal vein near the leaf margin.

Several flowers cluster at the tips of the branches; the corolla is tubular, about 5-6 cm in diameter, with 5 lobes.

The outside is milky white, the center bright yellow, extremely fragrant.

The flowering period is from May to October. Plumeria blooms in summer, with a delicate elegance.

Plumeria has been designated by Buddhist temples as one of the "Five Trees and Six Flowers"

and is widely planted, hence it is also called "temple tree" or "pagoda tree".

Its tree form is handsome and strangely shaped, and the stems of the whole plant contain milky sap.

When plumeria is cultivated in a greenhouse, it sheds its leaves in winter.

This is a sign of its poor cold tolerance.

But after the leaves fall, the bare trunk curves naturally like a bonsai,

and also has strong ornamental value.

Michelia alba

Michelia alba DC

An evergreen tree, up to 17 m tall, with spreading branches forming a broad umbrella-shaped crown.

DBH 30 cm; the bark is gray; the twigs and leaves are aromatic when rubbed.

The young branches and buds are densely covered with pale yellowish-white fine pubescence, which gradually falls off with age.

The leaves are thinly leathery, oblong or lanceolate-elliptic,

glabrous above, sparsely pubescent beneath, and the reticulate veins on both sides are very obvious when dry.

The flowers are white, extremely fragrant; the tepals number 10, lanceolate.

The pistil has numerous carpels, and at maturity, as the receptacle extends,

they form an aggregate fruit of sparsely arranged follicles; the follicles are bright red when ripe.

The flowering period is from April to September, blooming profusely in summer, and it usually does not set fruit.

Michelia alba is white michelia.

It is a deciduous shrub of the family Magnoliaceae, and summer is its flowering period.

The floral fragrance is rich, and it can be smelled even 30 or 40 m away from the tree.

Some people even buy freshly picked white michelia flowers and put them in their homes

to fill the house with fragrance.

If the winter temperature is suitable, it will continue to bloom.

Only the fragrance is not as rich as that of summer flowers.

Musella lasiocarpa

Musella lasiocarpa (Franch.) C. Y. Wu ex H. W. Li

Native to Yunnan, China, it is a flower unique to China.

The true small flowers are in the leaf axils of the pseudostem,

delicately fragrant and tender, alternating yellow and green,

adding a touch of exquisite beauty, and the flowering period lasts as long as half a year.

Musella lasiocarpa has been designated by Buddhist temples as one of the "Five Trees and Six Flowers",

and is also an embodiment of kindness and a symbol of punishing evil in Dai literature.

In the south, if cared for properly, it can have flowers to admire almost all year round.

It is suitable for planting in the center of flower beds, and is also an excellent potted ornamental plant.