Botanical stars of the summer solstice

The summer solstice is here

Summer solstice, also known as summer festival, summer solstice festival, is the ancient folk & ldquo; four times eight sections & rdquo; one. Summer solstice, the sun directly shoots the Tropic of Cancer, at this time the northern hemisphere across the daytime is the longest throughout the year, the summer solstice is also the highest noon sun height of the year day. To talk about the iconic summer plants, non-watermelon and lotus flowers.

Watermelon

Watermelon is an annual trailing vine; stems and branches are stout, with obvious ribs. Monoecious, female and male flowers are solitary in the leaf axils. Male flowers: pedicel 3-4 cm long, densely yellow-brown villous; calyx tube broadly campanulate; corolla yellowish; female flowers: calyx and corolla the same as male flowers; ovary ovate, stigma reniform. Fruit large, subglobose or ellipsoid, fleshy and juicy, pericarp smooth, colored and ornamented in various ways. Seeds numerous, ovate, black-red, smooth on both sides, base obtuse-rounded, usually slightly arched at the edges, flowering and fruiting in summer. Fruit flesh is sweet, can cool down the summer heat; seeds contain oil, can be used as a pastime food; pericarp medicinal use, there are heat, diuretic, lowering blood pressure effect.

Cultivated throughout China, there are many varieties, exocarp, pulp and seeds in a variety of forms to Xinjiang, Lanzhou, Dezhou, Dongtai and other places are the most famous. China is the world's largest watermelon producer, about the origin of the watermelon, said different. One theory is that watermelon originated in Africa, in the West came, so the name of watermelon, the Ming Dynasty Xu Guangqi "agricultural government book" records: & ldquo; watermelon, planted out of the West, so the name & rdquo;; Another theory stems from the legend of Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, it is said that the watermelon in the Shennong tasted a hundred herbs when it was found that the original name is called dilute watermelon, meaning water meat sparse melons, but then passed around and became a watermelon.

Lotus

The lotus flower belongs to the water lily family, which is a common name for two species of plants in the genus Lotus. It is also known as lotus flower, red lotus flower, lotus flower, Nymphaea (hàndàn), water hibiscus, etc. It is a perennial aquatic herbaceous flower of the genus Lotus. The underground stems are long and plump with long nodes, and the leaves are peltate-orbicular. Flowering period from June to September, single at the top of the pedicel, the majority of petals, embedded in the base of the receptacle, red, pink, white, purple and other colors, or colorful patterns, edging. Lotus nobility through modesty, low-key and elegant, is a flower of high moral character. Lotus & ldquo; out of the silt but not stained, Maundy and not demon & rdquo; noble character, chastity and purity, the quality of innocence and righteousness has been widely sung by the literati and writers. 1985 May lotus was named one of China's top ten famous flowers. Lotus is also the national flower of India and Vietnam.

There are many types of lotus, divided into two categories: ornamental and edible. In China, cultivation was recorded as early as the Zhou Dynasty. In 473 B.C., King Wu Fu-chai built “Play Flower Pond” in his palace (Lingyan Mountain, Suzhou) exclusively for his favorite concubine Xi Shi to enjoy the lotus. At that time, for people to eat about 40 kinds of vegetables, lotus root is one of them. "Poetry" in the & ldquo; mountains have Fusu, sermons and lotus & rdquo;, & ldquo; Pei Ze of Pei, there are bushes and lotus & rdquo; poems. Lotus flowers are all treasures, lotus root and lotus seeds can be eaten, lotus seeds, rhizomes, water, lotus leaves, etc. can be used as medicine. The Compendium of Materia Medica" records: lotus can promote blood circulation, remove dampness and eliminate wind, clear the heart and cool the blood, relieve heat and detoxification. Lotus seeds can nourish the heart, benefit the kidneys, tonify the spleen and astringe the intestines. Lotus seed can nourish the heart, benefit the kidneys, tonify the spleen and astringe the intestines. Lotus leaf can clear summer heat, relieve dampness, promote Yang and stop bleeding, lose weight and slimming, in which the lotus leaf simple ingredients for cleaning the stomach and intestines, fat and blood stasis has a miraculous effect. Lotus root can stop bleeding, dissipate blood stasis and detoxify heat. The lotus stem can clear heat and summer heat, pass gas and water, diarrhea and clear the heart.

Legend has it that the lotus flower was originally a beautiful maid —— Yu Ji by the side of the Queen Mother. Yuji saw the earth pairs, men plowing and weaving, very envious, and therefore moved the mortal heart, in the company of the daughter of the river god stole out of the Palace of Heaven, came to Hangzhou Xizi Lake. The beautiful scenery of the West Lake let Yu Ji linger, long reluctant to leave. Queen Mother knew that with the lotus throne will Yu Ji into the lake silt, never again on the southern sky. From then on, the heavenly palace less a beautiful maid, and the earth is more a kind of jade muscle watery flowers.

Nutritional diet — — watermelon lychee slush drink

[Ingredients] 300 grams of watermelon, lychee 4, sugar, ice a little

[Practice] 1, watermelon peeled meat, lychee peeled, dig core, remove the lychee meat spare.

2, watermelon meat, lychee meat and sugar together into the cooking machine crushed, poured into the ice mold, into the freezer for 3 hours, until the liquid freezes molding.

3, the ice again into the food processor, blitzed into a slush, served in a cup to drink.

Soba Cold Noodles

[Ingredients] 1 package of buckwheat cold noodles, a piece of beef in soy sauce, 1 small bowl of kimchi, a section of cucumber, a cooked egg, apples or pears, beef broth, white vinegar, ground beef, sugar, salt, soy sauce, chili oil, cooked sesame seeds.

[practice]

1, 1000g of cold white or beef broth, 50ml of white vinegar, 1 spoon of ground beef, 3 spoons of sugar, salt to taste, 10ml of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of chili oil or Korean chili sauce to make a sauce and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2, buckwheat cold noodles soaked in water for 20 minutes after boiling water for 2 minutes, room temperature water cooled twice and then ice water cooled once

3, prepare a bowl and pour the soup and cold noodles. Add the chopped toppings and sprinkle with cooked sesame seeds.