This potted plant releases fragrance at a touch, and every part of it is a treasure, so you don't need to buy perfume or seasonings.

Last year, my dad somehow got a small, unremarkable-looking potted plant. Its leaves are emerald green, it stays evergreen all year round, it grows fast, and it has very strong vitality. But it has a trait that other flowers don't have: ever since it was kept indoors, the whole room has been filled with fragrance. Just touch it with your hand, and your whole hand smells fragrant. What's more, every part of it is a treasure. It can be used as a spice, a seasoning, for infusing liquor, and for extracting essential oil. It can also dispel wind and expel cold, remove toxins and promote urination, and clear phlegm and open the orifices. Grown as a bonsai, it has a distinctive charm.

This potted plant is called fennel sweet flag (Acorus gramineus 'Fennel'), and in some places it is called suishouxiang. Fennel sweet flag is evergreen all year round, has a beautiful appearance, extremely strong vitality, and does not demand much from its environment. The whole plant is aromatic, and wherever you touch it, that spot becomes fragrant. The scent gives people a comfortable and fresh feeling. Fennel sweet flag has fleshy roots and an aromatic smell; it branches and grows in clumps; its leaves are thick, relatively narrow and small, and aromatic. After you touch them with your hand, the fragrance lingers for a long time, which is why it is called "suishouxiang" (fragrance at hand). In many places, fennel sweet flag is an indispensable ingredient for stewing and stir-frying all kinds of meat; without it, the food tastes bland.

Fennel sweet flag is grown for both ornamental and culinary use, stays evergreen all year round, and is more fragrant when grown in soil than in water, so soil cultivation is recommended. Fennel sweet flag has a wide range of uses: it can be eaten; it can be used as a spice (for cooking mutton, beef, fish, duck, dog, snake, wild boar and other game, with excellent effects in removing gamey smells, enhancing fragrance and adding sweetness; meat dishes made with it leave an endlessly memorable aftertaste!); as a seasoning (hot pot base); and for extracting essential oil (smelling it refreshes the mind). It can be grown as a potted ornamental plant (it has the quiet elegance of an orchid, and also the fennel fragrance that orchids lack, making it very suitable for placing on an office desk.

Fennel sweet flag likes cool, moist, fertile soil. It has extremely strong vitality, can grow naturally as soon as it meets soil and water, is not afraid of severe cold, stays green all year round, and is hard to kill even with herbicide. Because of its rich fragrance, insects do not bite it, and its mosquito-repelling effect is excellent. Touch it with your hand and the fragrance lingers on your hand for a long time. When growing it, give it plenty of light and good ventilation, and keep the soil environment moist for a long time; it will then reproduce quickly and grow quickly, and before long it will be emerald green all over the pot, with fragrance filling the room.