Inspirational story of Phyllostachys pubescens

In the easternmost part of China, there is a kind of bamboo called Phyllostachys pubescens. Farmers there sow seeds everywhere and cultivate them carefully every day.

Waiting for the seeds to germinate, even though farmers have taken good care of them for several years, bamboo is only 3 cm long in four years. When people in other places saw this scene, they all shook their heads to show that they could not understand it at all. Think of it this way: What did you spend so long planting it for? This is a waste of time and energy.

However, five years later, bamboo is growing at full speed at a speed of 30 centimeters a day. In this way, it can grow to 15 meters in just 6 weeks and become a lush bamboo forest in an instant. Although it only grew 3CM in four years, it began to grow in the fifth year, and it seems that incredible changes have taken place in six weeks.

But in the previous four years, Phyllostachys pubescens extended its roots in the soil for hundreds of square meters.

There are also people around us who can't see the result even if they work hard, or who stick to the end even if they are unknown.

When we see them, we may think they are unfortunate or stupid, but they are not growing, but taking root, deep and strong roots. When the time is right, they will climb the peak that others can't reach.

Maybe you can't see the result of what you are doing now, but don't be afraid-you are not growing, but taking root.

mao bamboo

Is this inspirational story a fact? Or packaged chicken soup?

Dr. Feng Feixue from Shell Network replied on 02 19.

20 14-06-05 20:35

"Four years, three centimeters, six weeks, 15 meters", generally speaking, the first half of the sentence is wrong, and the second half is ok. But strictly speaking, these are actually two completely different processes.

The "four years and three centimeters" mentioned above should be aimed at bamboo seedlings. The so-called seedlings refer to seedlings with germinated seeds. For bamboo, its growth is not much different from that of ordinary gramineous plants. But "four years and three centimeters" is very problematic. In fact, seedlings can grow to 3 cm high in a day or two after germination, and can grow to more than 10 cm in a few weeks.

Bamboo seedlings

The picture shows Phyllostachys pubescens seedlings.

And we usually use it to describe the rapid growth of "like mushrooms after rain", which is not a seedling, but a bud sprouted from the underground transverse stem that Phyllostachys pubescens has grown. This is a kind of asexual propagation of bamboo, and asexual propagation is the main propagation mode of bamboo. For bamboo shoots, there are already many knots inside, but each knot is extremely shortened. Under suitable conditions, the interlayer meristem in each node begins to split and elongate together, so the growth rate of bamboo shoots is quite fast, and it can grow several meters in a few days.

The underground of bamboo crosses the stem, and there are two buds that have developed into plants on it. Different bamboos have different underground stem growth patterns.

Every "grid" in bamboo shoots is actually every node that later developed into bamboo.

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Now let's spit out the problems in the picture.

First of all, Phyllostachys pubescens does not "only grow in the easternmost part of China". When we say Phyllostachys pubescens, we usually refer to the species of Phyllostachys pubescens shown in the picture, which are widely distributed in southern provinces of China. Bamboo forests in Zhejiang and Fujian are mainly bamboo.

Secondly, the seed in the second photo ... is flax seed. Bamboo seeds are not like this. Bamboo is a gramineous plant and an important caryopsis. There are few opportunities for bamboo to reproduce with seeds, usually only once every few years.

The seed of Phyllostachys pubescens (strictly speaking, caryopsis, without glume).

The sprout in the third picture is not bamboo, but more like a bud sprouting from the bulb of Amaryllidaceae.

I think it's more like daffodils grown locally or something.

The growth rate is already there.

Where is the root? It's obviously not the root of bamboo. What bamboo roots look like has also been shown above. In addition, the underground part of bamboo is mainly underground stem. The underground stem extends very fast, and this information in the picture is correct. Due to the dense underground stems of Phyllostachys pubescens, it grows rapidly. If it is not controlled, it will spread rapidly, inhibiting the growth of other plants and forming a "green desert".