What are the four elegant flowers among flowers? Learn about their elegance

New mnemonic for growing Acorus gramineus:

Plant near water, attach to stones for health.

Leaves dry, roots wet; loves warmth, fears cold.

Gentle breeze, shelter from rain; fewer divisions, more vigorous growth.

Loves shade, fears sun; enjoys dew, avoids frost.

Grown on stone it stays slender; planted in soil it grows quite sturdy.

Light feeding, generous watering; tend often and remove yellow leaves.

Green as jade, its fragrance penetrates the organs.

Wild and unconstrained in pure spirit, it is not suited to gaudy adornment.

Paired with stones for pure display, kept within an antique pot.

Plain and natural, it is best suited to the study.

Acorus gramineus was originally a small grass on the stones by the stream. A thousand years ago it entered the studies of literati, hailed as one of the "four elegant flowers among flowers," and was lavished with every kind of affection by men of letters, leaving behind countless Tang poems, Song ci, brush writings and paintings. It is a pity that China's Acorus gramineus culture suffered a "gap in transmission," letting this little grass quietly endure obscurity for a thousand years; descriptions of Acorus gramineus varieties are extremely few, and many varieties have already been lost.

The ancients believed that every early morning, wiping the eyes with dew condensed at night on cypress leaves or Acorus gramineus leaves could maintain eye health and make eyesight bright. As Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica says: "Dew on cypress leaves, dew on Acorus gramineus, both can brighten the eyes; wash with them every morning." Yet the night dew on cypress trees is not so easy to collect. By comparison, Acorus gramineus can be planted in a small pot and kept in a study, so using the night dew on artificially cultivated Acorus gramineus as an "eye-protecting liquid" after rising in the morning became a trend among scholar-officials.

Acorus gramineus became an elegant fixture in the study beginning in the Song Dynasty. The pot-grown Acorus gramineus is also called "stone Acorus gramineus" or "stone Acorus calamus," growing on stones in water and needing no soil when cultivated. This clean state is not only elegant to look at but also especially suitable for placing indoors, particularly in a study full of books, scholar's implements and elegant objects. Place a few stones in a pot, fill it with water, sprinkle some cold rice soup over the stones, then toss in some Acorus gramineus seeds, and put the pot in a shady, damp place; then slender leaves sprout from the stones -- the ease of cultivating stone Acorus gramineus is also an important reason it holds first place among indoor potted plants and flowers.

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