Liquidambar formosana is a plant of Liquidambar in Daphne family, which is produced in Henan, Shaanxi and other provinces south of the Yangtze River basin. Or wild cultivation. The stem fiber can be used as the raw material of high-grade paper and artificial cotton, and the whole plant can relax tendons and activate collaterals, diminish inflammation and relieve pain, and treat traumatic injury and rheumatalgia. It can also be used as a veterinary drug to treat cattle falls. It can also be cultivated for ornamental purposes. The following small series will introduce the morphological characteristics and ecological habits of incense. When fragrant flowers are in full bloom, there are no leaves. Because the branches are soft and knotty and smell fragrant, they are named fragrant flowers. Fragrant and soft, it can be knotted constantly, hence the name "knot flowers and trees". It is said that some places call incense "dream flower". In fact, fragrant flowers are not noticeable. According to the old people, this tree can interpret dreams. I had a dream at night, got up in the morning, and tied a knot on its branch when no one was looking. If it is a good dream, it can be realized, if it is a nightmare, it can be resolved. So this kind of tree is called "dream tree", and flowers naturally become "dream flowers". Fragrant flowers are the fragrant buds of Daphne odora in Phnom Penh, belonging to deciduous shrubs. Origin: South of the Yangtze River, Henan, Shaanxi and other provinces. Picking place: bud. Pick inflorescences in late winter and early spring when flowers bloom and dry them. Indications: nourishing yin, calming nerves, improving eyesight and removing obstacles. Used for cyanosis, cataract, polydipsia, wet dream, fatigue and aphonia. The morphological characteristics of incense are often divided into three branches, the young branches are often pubescent, the phloem is very tough, the leaf scar is large, the diameter is about 5 mm, the pre-flowering leaves are oblong, lanceolate to oblanceolate, the tip is short, the base is wedge-shaped or conical, 8-20 cm long and 2.5-5.5 cm wide. Both sides are covered with silver-gray silk hair, and the lower side is more. Lateral veins are slender and curved, each side is 10- 13 hairy and pilose. The flower head is terminal or lateral, with 30-50 flowers, which are fluffy and spherical, and the peripheral involucre is about 10, which is long and premature; Peduncle length 1-2 cm, gray, hairy; The flowers are fragrant, sessile, the calyx is about 1.3-2 cm long and 4-5 mm wide, the outside is densely covered with white filiform hairs, the inside is hairless, yellow, the top is 4-lobed, and the lobes are oval, about 3.5 mm long and 3 mm wide; Stamens are 8-2 rows, the upper 4 rows are opposite to calyx lobes, and the lower 4 rows alternate with calyx lobes, with short filaments and nearly ovoid anthers. About 2 mm long; Ovary ovoid, about 4 mm long, 2 mm in diameter, with filamentous hairs at the top, linear style, 2 mm long, glabrous, stigma 3 mm long, mastoid, shallow cup-shaped, membranous, and irregular edge. The fruit is oval, green, about 8 mm long, 3.5 mm in diameter and hairy at the top. It blooms in late winter and early spring and bears fruit in spring and summer. Fragrant flowers are deciduous shrubs with a height of 2m. The whole plant is silky villous or hairy and dense when it is young. Branches are brownish red, usually with 3 branches and lenticels. Leaves alternate, usually clustered at the ends of branches, papery, oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 8- 16 cm long, 2-3.5 cm wide or slightly wider, wedge-shaped at the base, extending downward, sharp or blunt at the top, entire, sparsely hairy at the top, hairless at the back, pink-green at the bottom, hairy at the bottom, with dense veins and protruding on the veins. Many flowers, yellow, fragrant, terminal head, drooping; Pedicel stout, densely sericeous, involucre pilose, pedicel absent or extremely short: calyx cylindrical, sericeous outside, lobes 4, petal-shaped, oval, spreading; Petals absent; 8 stamens, 2 whorls, inserted in the upper part of calyx tube, with extremely short filaments and long elliptic anthers; Oval, sessile, pilose only on the upper part, 1 locule, 1 ovule, slender style, linear cylindrical stigma, pilose. The fruit is ovoid, usually wrapped at the base of perianth, leathery, hard and brittle. Xiang Xiang's ecological habit likes to be born on wet and fertile land. Like semi-wet sunscreen, fragrant and semi-cloudy. Planting or placing can be in the south of the north wall. It is best to avoid the scorching sun in summer and bask in the sun in winter. Potted plants should be placed in sunny places from autumn to spring and in semi-cool places in summer. Leaves exposed to the sun
Like warm climate, poor cold tolerance, greenhouse cultivation in the north. The fertile loam with good drainage grows well, and alkali planting is prohibited. Fleshy roots are not resistant to water and moisture, and they are easy to rot due to poor drainage. I like a mild and cool climate. It grows well in mountainous areas above 500 meters above sea level, but grows slowly in low altitude areas, with short plants, small flowers and low seed setting rate. Should be planted in loam with good drainage and loose and fertile soil layer.