Grandma's palm-leaf fan, stirring up the coolness of memory

About summer

In memories of hot summer days, we would doze off to the sound of cicadas, while Grandma's palm-leaf fan swayed gently, driving away the heat and bringing a touch of coolness. Now that air conditioning is everywhere, the palm-leaf fan has also become a cool memory. The palm-leaf fan in those memories comes from the Chinese fan palm.

Chinese fan palm Livistona chinensis

A plant in the genus Livistona of the palm family, an evergreen tree. Its individual leaf segments are arranged like a fan, so it is also called fan-leaf palm. In the early text "Chinese Guangxi Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine Plants," it was recorded as Pengshan tree, and in "Luchuan Materia Medica," it was recorded as Kui fan wood. In ancient times, whenever medicine was being boiled, the palm-leaf fan could also be used to increase the fire. At the same time, it is also the object held by the widely known living Buddha Ji Gong.

So why can the leaves of the Chinese fan palm be made into fans?

First, because the leaves of the Chinese fan palm are relatively large and arranged quite neatly. This leaf arrangement is of course not random; with the petiole as the center, they are arranged in a radial pattern. This arrangement not only ensures that all leaves receive equal sunlight, but also ensures sufficient air circulation, maximizing the photosynthesis rate. Second, the splits between individual Chinese fan palm leaves are relatively shallow, so they are suitable for weaving into a round, smooth palm-leaf fan. In winter, the water content of Chinese fan palm leaves is lower, making it even easier to make palm-leaf fans from the leaves.

When talking about the Chinese fan palm, one must mention the windmill palm. Both belong to the palm family, and because they look quite similar, they are often hard to distinguish. We share a few little tips to help quickly tell these two trees apart.

Windmill palm

First, look at the size. The windmill palm is shorter, at most only about ten meters tall. In contrast, Chinese fan palms twenty meters tall are very common. At the same time, the Chinese fan palm has larger leaves, thicker stems, and grows faster.

Second, look at the appearance. On the petiole of the windmill palm there are only many small blunt spines distributed continuously, while on the petiole of the Chinese fan palm there are sharp recurved thorns that are separate from one another. Windmill palm leaves are not only small, but the splits in the leaves are also more obvious, so they are not suitable for making fans. In the natural state, the tips of windmill palm leaves are straight and hard; Chinese fan palm leaves are larger, with shallower leaf splits, and the leaf tips naturally droop. This is the simplest way to distinguish them. The fibers on the stem of the Chinese fan palm are fewer than those of the windmill palm, and they easily fall off to reveal the trunk; those of the windmill palm are thick and dense, and not easy to shed. This is the windmill palm's adaptation to cold environments, and people also use it to make mattresses.

Next, look at distribution. The Chinese fan palm has poor cold resistance, and within China it is distributed only in southern regions. The windmill palm can tolerate low temperatures of -10°C, and is produced from southern Shaanxi and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the north to South China and Vietnam in the south.

Finally, look at sex. The windmill palm is dioecious, while the Chinese fan palm is monoecious.

Now do you know what palm-leaf fans are made from?