There are all sorts of fruit here that I've never seen before. Here are just a few that I've actually learned.
青枣qīngzǎo, also known as the blue or green jujube or the Chinese green date. It has a very light flavor and simply tastes fresh and juicy. Very yummy
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| It looks like a tiny, elongated, green apple. |
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| But it's actually a drupe, not a pome. |
龙眼, lóngyǎn, which translates to Dragon's Eye. It's also known is English as
longan. It's related to the lychee. Also quite yummy.
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| A plateful of longyan. |
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| Partially peeled. |
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| The pit. |
And lastly, yangnai. This one I can't find in the dictionary or online anywhere. It's quite sour and was served with spicy pepper sauce over it in typical Yunnan fashion. I don't particularly like this one, but will eat it when it's offered with such excitement.
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ReplyDeleteHi Gita,
ReplyDeleteI have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and marveling at its beautiful photographs. Their vividness transports me to your part of the world. Thank you for this wonderful gift!
I do not know if your students will be interested or able to see the web site referenced below. I hope it may give them a better appreciation for the very important place that Chinese plants occupy in American and European gardens.
www.plantdelights.com/Plants-from-China-for-sale/Chinese-Garden-Plants/
There is a historical novel by Amitav Ghosh called River of Smoke that is set in China just before the First Opium War. One of its characters is a botanist (a female French-Indian botanist!) and many of China's early "contributions" to European floriculture are mentioned there, including azaleas and peonies. My own garden contains oriental lilies, a jujube tree, hybrid Asian-American persimmons, goji, and reishi mushroom.
The lilies are a very fragrant variety called "Stargazer" that is among the most popular lily cultivars in the U.S. They just started blooming today!
The jujube suffered under the weight of this winter's ice and snow; by Spring it was just a sad little crooked stick. It has since re-sprouted and is now covered with tiny flowers and even tinier ants pollinating them. I hope it will be as productive as it is hardy and adaptable.
The persimmon -- a variety named Prok -- is a cross between a Kaki type Asian persimmon (Diospyros kaki) and an American persimmon (D. virginiana) that was created by a breeder at Cornell. It marries the eating quality of the Asian variety and the cold hardiness of an American persimmon. This particular cultivar is parthenocarpic. As if that weren't enough, its large, hand-sized leaves turn beautiful shades of crimson and orange in Autumn.
This year I have planted goji (Lycium chinensis and L. barbarum). Goji berries have become quite the rage recently and large quantities are imported from China, though my interest is in the edible leaves. Ironically, goji has grown wild across the American West for 150 years, having been introduced by Chinese laborers who helped build railroads there.
Also new to my garden this year is the reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), which I'm told is ling zhi or ling chi in one of the languages of China. Though a similar mushroom in the same genus is native to North America, I've used a Chinese strain to inoculate oak logs that will hopefully fruit next Spring or Fall.
Finally, I learned recently that my neighbor's Afrikaaner brother-in-law is growing silkworms as an educational project for his young children. Even here (38 degrees north latitude) the silkworms emerge with the mulberry leaves!
China has truly enriched my garden, and the entire U.S.!
Peace,
Chetan
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