Wild game of the Yi people, good at fighting the "smell war" - wild elm

Author: Shangguan Fazhi (Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

The article comes from the Science Academy official account (ID: kexuedayuan)

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Friends who have been to Yunnan, I wonder if you have experienced a restaurant called "Grass Mound House". Influenced by the Yi culture, the floor of the restaurant is covered with thick pine needles, which are soft and green and very comfortable to step on. A group of people sit on the grass mounds around a large round wooden table, eating fried mint ribs (Mentha crispata), chrysanthemum and stinky tofu soup, cold sand pine tips (Yunnan cypress young tips) and other dishes, full of folk culture and flavor characteristics.

Among them, there is probably another "delicious" thing that must be mentioned, that is the free wild elm tea, which is really impressive. Although it feels a bit strange at first, you will soon like this taste after taking a few sips. It has a complex medicinal fragrance with a slightly cool taste. It is particularly comfortable to drink in the dry environment of Kunming.

What is "Wild Basil"?

In Yunnan, the Elsholtzia rugulosa used to make tea is also called wild bazi, wild bazi, fragrant sesame wormwood, fragrant suzhecao, wild fragrant suzhe, small suzhe, and wild bajiao.

This wild elm is not only used to make herbal tea, but also an important Yi medicine in some areas of Yunnan. It is often used to treat colds, abdominal distension and pain, indigestion, bloating and stagnation, external hemostasis, and sores. In recent years, plant chemistry and pharmacology research has also found many active ingredients with medicinal development value in it. It can be said that it is a plant with great medical development value.

Elsholtzia sabdariffa

But for me, it seems that its vanilla qualities used in gourmet cooking are more attractive. The most special use of wild elm in this regard is to cook chicken. When I first heard of this dish, I was puzzled for a while. Wild elm is sometimes called stinking sweetscented rhubarb and has a slightly strange taste. What would it feel like when its strong medicinal aroma is combined with the fresh fragrance of chicken soup? I really can't imagine.

However, in the culture of the Yi ethnic group in central Yunnan, Yebazi Chicken is one of the undoubted specialties. "Yebazi Chicken" is not only used as the name of many restaurants in central Yunnan, but is also the main dish of many Yi restaurants.

"Yebazi" - Cooking the taste of the mountains

Authentic Yebazi chicken needs to be cooked in a firewood pot. Add oil to stir-fry dried chilies, ham, ginger and other spices, then add the chopped local chicken pieces and stir-fry together. When the chicken is 70% to 80% cooked, add water and boil over high heat. At the same time, add the slightly charred Yebazi that has been prepared in advance and cook together. When the chicken is soft, it can be removed from the pot.

Different from the common clear-boiled chicken in most areas, the taste of Yebazi chicken seems to be full of wildness due to the special cooking process and the addition of wild elm. From the chicken to the soup, it is very rich and strong, with complex and rich flavors. In addition to being a delicacy that is worth tasting, perhaps you can also taste a little bit of the Yi people's mountain feelings.

To some extent, from wild elm tea, wild chicken, to the herbal use of wild elm, there are strong Yi cultural colors in them. The natural characteristics of the plant and the national folk culture complement each other, which is very interesting.

If you study it carefully, you will find that the growth area of ​​​​Wild Elsholtzia largely overlaps with the area where the Yi people live in the central Yunnan Plateau (including a small area in Sichuan and Guizhou). The growth habitat of Wild Elsholtzia in central Yunnan is mostly in the relatively dry, cool and sunny hillside grasslands at an altitude of about 1,700 meters to 2,400 meters. These areas are usually also the areas where many Yi compatriots live and graze.

Elsholtzia sabdariffa community

This overlap of human and plant ecological niches has given people a long period of time to gain a sufficiently in-depth understanding of the plants growing here, and to allow plants to gradually integrate into their own national life and culture. For example, plants such as wild elm have often become excellent carriers and representatives of national culture.

Due to my work, I walk in the fields for a long time, and I encounter wild elm more and more. Later, every time I meet it in the mountains, I feel like I am meeting a familiar "old friend". Of course, I will not be so polite to "old friends". I will go up to pick a few leaves, rub them and smell the familiar fragrance, or just put a few leaves in my mouth and chew them. The slightly bitter and spicy fragrance can always refresh people who feel tired during the climb.

If you camp and cook in the mountains during your trip, you can pick a bunch of wild elm and make a big pot of excellent herbal tea for everyone after the meal. It can not only eliminate the greasiness of food, but also clear away heat and reduce dryness. It can be used as both medicine and food, which is very pleasant. However, I think this "old friend" feeling is definitely one-sided. We like it, but it may not like us. It's just that it can't do anything about us humans, who are too strong.

The survival strategy of wild basil

For the survival of plants, the best strategy is to continue to grow and reproduce without being affected or destroyed. This is the eternal rule of the game in nature.

Of course, the wild mulberry has its own survival strategy and will not allow other creatures to bully it.

You can't see wild elm everywhere when you go into the mountains. It is mainly distributed on the alpine grass slopes of the central Yunnan Plateau, in the humid river valleys, and under the dense forests. There are rarely traces of it on the extremely cold mountain tops. Instead, it is easiest to find it on the abandoned grass slopes and terraces of the middle and high mountains where cattle and sheep like to forage, and it often forms a dominant plant community. It is a type of pioneering plant with a strong secondary nature.

Of course, to be called a pioneer plant, it must have some skills.

Strategy 1: “Smell War”

In addition to its rapid growth, cold resistance, and drought resistance, the aromatic smell of the wild elm is also a major factor in its survival.

The Lamiaceae family is a typical plant group that is mainly pollinated by insects. Its two-lipped flower feature is a type of perianth feature that is adapted to the visits of insect pollination. Of course, the Elsholtzia japonica of the genus Elsholtzia in the Lamiaceae family has also perfectly inherited this feature.

In order to fulfill their family history mission of reproducing offspring in large numbers, plants need to attract insects to pollinate them in a variety of ways, among which releasing fragrance from flowers to attract insects for pollination is one of the main ways.

Inflorescence of Elsholtzia sabdariffa attracts insect pollination

Of course, the fragrance will not only attract loving pollinating insects, but may also attract some herbivorous natural enemies that feed on it. This is when the wisdom of the wild elm's breeding strategy is demonstrated.

Recently, experts from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered the multiple strategic skills of plants in the use of smell with the help of wild elm. It is like having wine when friends come and having shotguns when enemies come. It is full of personality, just like the famous Yi lady Shexiang.

Researchers have discovered that Elsholtzia wild boars are able to cleverly develop two scent systems, one to attract friends and one to repel enemies.

If the Eupatorium plant is not eaten or disturbed by natural enemies, the fragrance it releases through its flowers will be attractive to effective pollinators. Pollinating insects will happily suck the nectar, and the Eupatorium will happily send away the pollen that will nurture the next generation.

When the visiting objects are some natural enemies, such as some beetles, the wild elm will be unhappy. Because of the structure of the perianth, some insects will not only fail to take away the pollen effectively, but also eat a lot of perianth or leaves and other tissues, causing damage to the plant or waste of resources. At this time, the wild elm will cleverly switch to another odor system, releasing a strong irritating odor (esculentol) that has a repellent effect on natural enemies, keeping them away.

Of course, from an evolutionary perspective, for a plant that has been cultivated for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years, the breeding ecological strategies it possesses are far more than this.

Strategy 2: “Flower Season War”

Choosing to bloom on grass slopes with low canopy density in autumn and winter may also be one of its strategies.

At this time, there are far fewer other flowering plant species than in spring and summer. Pollinating insects such as Chinese honey bees will pay more attention to wild elm, allowing wild elm to receive a higher visit rate from pollinating insects.

Elsholtzia serrata in bloom

On the other hand, choosing to bloom on a very open grassy slope will undoubtedly result in higher insect visibility than in environments such as undergrowth or valleys with poor visibility.

In addition, wild elm often blooms in groups, which is also seen in pollination biology as an effective strategy to increase attractiveness to pollinating insects, just like a man pursuing a girl with 999 roses is better than just one rose.

Of course, this series of clever strategies are also extremely good for some pollinating insects, such as the Chinese honey bees, and the people living there. The Chinese honey bees obtain precious food sources in seasons of food scarcity, and the people also obtain another delicious Yi local specialty - Yebazi honey.

On a spring afternoon, why not make two cups of wild elm tea with friends?