_Plants

Wednesday, January 13, 1988

Immortal Peaches (仙桃)

Immortal Peaches (仙桃)

Alternative Names (異名):
蟠桃, 天桃, 仙桃, Immortal Peaches

Immortal Peaches a major item featured within the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West. The first time in which these immortal peaches were seen had been within heaven when Sun Wukong had been stationed as the Protector of the Peaches. As the “Protector of the Peaches, Wukong quickly realized the legendary effects of the immortal peaches if they were to be consumed – over 1,000 years of life after the consumption of a single peach – and acted quickly as to consume one. However, Wukong ended up running into many fragments of trouble such as a certain queen that was planning on holding a peach banquet for many members of Heaven. Wukong manages to make himself very small and hide within a sacred peach. Later on within the series, Wukong would have another chance to eat an immortal fruit – in which would be his second time. A certain 1,000 foot tall tree was stationed behind a Taoist monastery run by a Taoist Master and his disciples – in which the master had been gone. After this point within the novel, these Immortal peaches would never be seen again.

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_Peaches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology

Chinese history stubs | Journey to the West | Chinese mythology

Tuesday, January 20, 1981

Fatsia japonica

Fatsia japonica

Fatsia japonica (Fatsi or Japanese Aralia; syn. Aralia japonica Thunb., A. sieboldii Hort. ex K.Koch) is a species of Fatsia, native to southern Japan.

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 3-6 m tall, with stout, sparsely branched stems. The leaves are spirally-arranged, large, 20-50 cm in width and on a petiole up to 50 cm long, leathery, palmately lobed, with 7-9 broad lobes, divided to half or two-thirds of the way to the base of the leaf; the lobes are edged with coarse, blunt teeth. The flowers are small, white, borne in dense terminal compound umbels in late autumn or early winter, followed by small black fruit.

The name "Fatsi" is an approximation of the old Japanese word for 'eight' (hachi in modern Japanese), referring to the eight lobes. The name "Japanese Aralia" is due to the genus formerly being classified within a broader interpretation of the related genus Aralia in the past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatsia_japonica