Some plants are born legends, such as towering American redwoods and thousand-year-old foxtail pines; There are also some plants that are born willing to be close to people, like mimosas that are ready to be touched; Some plants have both, such as the royal lotus, which is such a magical plant.
When midsummer comes, the vigorous lotus leaves bloom pure white flowers, wafting out a delicate fragrance, they change color three times in two days, and the first evening bloom is still the "beauty under the moon".
The next morning, she changed into a gentle and playful "Pink Beauty", and when it opened again in the afternoon, she changed into a pink and purple dress, incarnated as a noble and elegant "Purple Lady", so Wang Lian's title of "Fickle Goddess" is worthy of its name.
Every year around May, Wang Lian's strong roots begin to sprout, although it is a tender shoot, Wang Lian has already shown a fierce side, and her whole body is covered with spikes, like a mace.
As the water fluctuates, this "mace" stretches out and moves forward with the water, and as long as there are no strong competitors, it expands out the leaves, and unlike other lotus leaves, the edges of the leaves are erect and look like a shallow basin of water. As the "pot floor" increases, the prickly edges are pushed forward, relentlessly crossing other plants on the surface of the water at an average speed of 20 centimeters per day.
From the end of May to November, each plant grows about 50-60 leaves. In the natural environment, these plant families will gather together and quickly expel other plants from the water, occupying almost all of the water surface space and enjoying the gift of sunlight alone.
Compared with our common Chinese lotus, the leaves of the royal lotus are floating on the surface of the water, which causes the leaves to accumulate water, which in turn affects photosynthesis, in order to solve this problem, the royal lotus first chose sunny waters to grow, so that the stagnant water will evaporate quickly, and there are two natural small gaps in the leaves.
When there is a lot of water, these notches can help drain the water, and the front of the blade is densely covered with visible stomata that allow the blade to float on the surface of the water like styrofoam and be able to breathe effectively.
However, this "arrogant king" is not without weaknesses, and it has a low tolerance for cold: when the temperature drops to 20 degrees Celsius, growth stagnates; When the temperature drops to about 8 degrees Celsius, you can even die because of the cold.
The seeds of the lotus do not have the strong endurance of the seeds of the lotus seeds, the royal lotus and the lotus are not the same family of plants, not a "family" at all, not many years ago, the lotus was still placed in the water lily family, these similar plants, it is natural that everyone is considered a family.
With the study of taxonomy and molecular biology, it is understood that water lily is the earliest angiosperm to appear, so it is classified as a basal angiosperm group. Lotus belongs to the basal group of true dicots.
The thorny fruit of the royal lotus will slowly ripen under water, and wait until the seeds are fully mature, the peel slowly decays, and the seeds are released, and each seed is wrapped in a translucent, milky white capsule-like outer seed coat, this structure can make the seeds with the king lotus float in the water and travel with the current, this special way of growth and dispersal, so that the seeds of the king lotus can not be separated from the water.
The royal lotus has the largest leaves of any aquatic plant, with a diameter of more than 3 meters. This plant is best known for its amazing carrying capacity, in general, its leaves are able to withstand objects weighing up to 50 kg without sinking, and we sometimes see some**, on which people sit on the leaves of the royal lotus, as if in a small circular boat, slowly moving on the rippling water.
When loading, the leaf edge can play a role in blocking water from entering the blade to ensure that the blade drains water and generates buoyancy, looking at the blade of Wang Lian, you will find that there are many thick leaf veins on the back of the blade, these leaf veins are like steel bars in concrete buildings, even if they are subjected to greater gravity in a certain area.
The inside of the leaf vein is hollow and filled with air, the back of the leaf plays a supporting role, and the back of the leaf is covered with dense thorns, which can prevent fish from feeding, keep the leaf and leaf vein intact, this structure can not only reduce the weight of the blade, but also increase buoyancy, which is conducive to carrying more load.
The strong bearing capacity of the leaves of the royal lotus stems from its unique honeycomb leaf vein structure, the leaf veins intersect to form a honeycomb shape, forming a beautiful and load-bearing whole, this special leaf vein structure, supporting the huge leaf surface, so that the whole leaf floats smoothly on the water surface, so that the royal lotus has amazing buoyancy.