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Volume 23 of the illustrations series is devoted to 21 plant families. Among the families of marsh or emergent aquatic plants are: Acoraceae, containing Acorus calamus, from which medicinal products and oils are extracted; Alismataceae, with Sagittaria trifolia, known in China as cigu (benevolent mushroom) and eaten there to celebrate the New Year; Cyperaceae, the “sedges and reeds” gathered “in the eighth month,” according to the Book of Poetry (Shih Ching) from thousands of years ago, and including Eleocharis dulcis, the water chestnut; Lemnaceae, with fronds of its species used as feed for domestic animals, fish, and fowl, and its green duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza and Wolffia globosa), which “sets forth its first leaves” in the fifth-century poetry of Hsieh Ling-yün. Other families of note included here are: Araceae, many of its Chinese species, e.g., Arisaema heterophyllum, Pinellia pedatisecta, and P. ternata, in medicinal use since ancient times, Amorphophallus, Colococasia, and Pistia, with tubers used for food, and the ornamental lily Arisaema jacquemontii; and Arecaceae, with a wide range of palm species grown in the tropical parts of China, among them Cocos nucifera, the coconut plant, an important source of oil (soap and margarine), coir (fiber for mats), and toddy (sugar-containing sap often fermented into an alcoholic drink).
- Authors: Flora of China Editorial Committee
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Publication Information
- Publisher: Science Press, Beijing & MBG Press
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: 9781935641025
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 664
Illustrated: Yes
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