Because tomorrow (27 Sep 2015) is Moon Festival Day, I’d like to talk about the plants that play a major role in this festival
One of the important plants in Moon Festival (or Mid-Autumn Festival) is sweet osmanthus of Osmanthus fragrans. Its scientific name is clearly described that its flower (Anthos) is fragrant (Osma). Sweet osmanthus has Chinese name as “Guihua”, which means fragrant flower. Since this plant is a member of Oleaceae family - the olive family, it also known as tea olive or fragrant olive.
Sweet osmanthus is a native plant in East Asia continent, can be found from Himalaya through China, Taiwan and Japan. In Thailand, it can be naturally found only in Chiang Mai province.
Sweet osmanthus was used for beauty since the ancient era. They were mixed in food, drink and cosmetics. It also was traditionally use as herbal tea to treat irregular menstruation. Recent study showed that the flower contains antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activities. It is honored in Taiwan as the sacred flower used in wedding ceremony.
In Chinese myth, sweet osmanthus was originally grown on the moon and it was the immortal tree. From this belief and the fact that sweet osmanthus is blooming in the mid-autumn; the same time of the Moon Festival, many Chinese people honored sweet osmanthus as the plant of the Moon Festival. During Moon Festival, the spirit mixed with sweet osmanthีs flower called cassia wine or Kuei Hua Chen Chiew is used as the symbol of the reunion. People often drink this spirit while watching the beautiful full moon.
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| Cassia wine or Kuei Hua Chen Chiew Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinesischer_Duftwein_Flasche.jpg |
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