Perennial vegetables in China

Author: Chief Editor: Jin Bo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-07-01
Features: Summary This book comprehensively and systematically summarizes the species and varieties of perennial vegetables, serving as a specialized work on perennial vegetables. The book is divided into four parts: woody and bamboo vegetables, perennial root vegetables, bulbous vegetables, and aquatic vegetables, with an additional appendix listing wild perennial vegetables. Each vegetable entry includes brief history of cultivation, morphological characteristics, ecological habits, cultivation techniques, and storage and processing methods. It is highly scientific, richly illustrated, and serves as a reference for researchers, educators, producers, and managers. Excerpt:
I. Centers of Origin of Perennial Vegetables Many botanists have studied the centers of origin of cultivated plants (including vegetables), and the origins of most cultivated plants are now well-established. Perennial vegetables are generally categorized into 12 centers of origin (Table 1-1). China, with its complex geographical and variable climatic conditions, is particularly rich in perennial vegetables originating from this center.
II. Sources of Perennial Vegetables in China The sources of Chinese vegetables can be divided into two parts: one derived from the collection, cultivation, and domestication of native wild plants, and the other introduced from other centers of origin and subsequently domesticated and improved.
(1) Native Perennial Vegetables in China Ancient literature from the Zhou, Qin, and early Han periods (1000 BCE–200 BCE) records perennial vegetables primarily from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, including Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Shandong, and Hebei provinces. Perennial vegetables cultivated in this region include chives, Chinese leek, ginger, lily, daylily, lotus root, water celery, arrowhead, Chinese bamboo shoot, ferns, taro, and Chinese toon. At that time, China was a closed society, isolated from the outside world, so these vegetables undoubtedly originated in China. The Southern Vegetables and Plants (304 CE) is China’s earliest botanical classic, followed by other works. These texts document perennial vegetables such as asparagus, taro, Chinese yam, ginger, rhubarb, lily, daylily, chives, water chestnut, lotus root, Chinese water chestnut, water celery, arrowhead, Chinese bamboo shoot, and wisteria. Although these texts were written later, these vegetables have been cultivated in China since ancient times, so they also originated in the country.
(2) Perennial Vegetables Introduced from Abroad In the second century BCE, Zhang Qian’s diplomatic mission to the Western Regions officially established trade routes between China and the northwest. During the Jin and Tang dynasties, new routes were opened to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, introducing perennial vegetables such as taro and Chinese yam. In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911), maritime trade with foreign countries developed, introducing vegetables such as kidney beans, Buddha’s hand melon, Jerusalem artichoke, watercress, and artichoke via sea routes. China, with its vast territory and diverse natural conditions spanning cold, temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions, possesses rich plant resources. Many cultivated plants originated here, gradually domesticated from wild forms, and developed into cultivated varieties. Under such unique natural conditions, numerous specialized types and varieties of perennial vegetables have emerged. For example, the tubers of Chinese yam come in various shapes, forming short cylindrical "board feet" shapes in the south and 30–100 cm long cylindrical shapes in the north. Similarly, arrowhead, once known as "gu," was historically harvested for its seeds (referred to as "diao hu") and only became a vegetable after the Han Dynasty. Due to the diverse soil and climatic conditions across China, vegetables introduced from other centers of origin have gradually diverged from their original forms through domestication, developing unique subspecies, varieties, and types, making China a secondary center of origin for these introduced vegetables.
Section IV: Propagation of Perennial Vegetables Perennial vegetables can be propagated through various methods, broadly categorized as asexual propagation, sexual propagation, and spore propagation.
Asexual propagation, also known as vegetative propagation, involves using parts of the vegetative body (roots, stems, buds, etc.) to produce new plants. The advantages of asexual propagation are stable traits and the ability to maintain variety characteristics; the disadvantage is a lower propagation rate. Tissue culture rapid propagation methods also fall under asexual propagation and offer high propagation rates.
Sexual propagation, or seed propagation, involves some perennial vegetables undergoing flower bud differentiation, development, and flowering during the late vegetative growth stage. After fertilization, the zygote develops into an embryo, forming seeds, which are then used for propagation. The advantages of sexual propagation are a high propagation rate and strong root systems; the disadvantage is that offspring may exhibit genetic variation.
Spore propagation is a special method for ferns. Spores are produced directly by the sporophyte without sexual reproduction, making them fundamentally different from seeds. Many fern varieties are edible and can be propagated through division or spore propagation. Some perennial vegetables do not produce seeds or produce very few, so overall, asexual propagation is the primary method for perennial vegetables, which is one of their distinctive features.
I. Asexual Propagation
(1) Cutting Propagation Cutting propagation involves using parts of the stem, root, or bud of perennial vegetables to insert into a medium, inducing root and shoot formation to create new plants. Plants propagated this way grow faster than seedlings (those grown from seeds), allowing for the rapid production of a large number of mature plants while maintaining variety characteristics. Examples include bamboo, Chinese toon, wisteria, edible chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum brain, and paper flower.
1. Theoretical Basis of Cutting Propagation When a part of a plant is cut off, it disrupts the overall coordination of the plant. However, the excised part demonstrates self-repair and coordination restoration capabilities, known as plant regeneration ability. This ability enhances the vitality of residual meristematic tissues and even reactivates cell division in permanent tissues that have lost meristematic capacity. At the wound site, callus tissue forms, providing protection and regeneration. In other words, even though plant tissues and organs are differentiated, they retain the potential of embryonic cells. Once a part of an organ is separated, normal growth and development are hindered, and the plant generally has the potential to compensate for the lost organ, i.e., to restore the organ’s potential.