Observation and Description of Little Flowers and Grass - A Guide for Primary School Students' Extracurricular Observation and Description

Author: Xu Lu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: When bamboo is still a bamboo shoot, on a rainy spring day, if you walk into a bamboo forest, you might see bamboo shoots that have just sprouted from the ground. Bamboo shoots are the buds of bamboo. Because they resemble the "fetus" of a bamboo, people also call them "bamboo fetuses." Bamboo shoots can quickly push their way out of the ground during or after spring rain. If you keep your eyes fixed on the bamboo forest after the rain, you might be able to see how a bamboo shoot rapidly emerges from the ground. When bamboo shoots first emerge, they are still wearing their "sheath." As they grow larger, the sheath gradually peels off layer by layer. Once the sheath is shed, the bamboo shoot can be called a bamboo! Bamboo shoots are edible and are a delicious seasonal dish known as "mountain delicacy." They can be stir-fried with meat, used in soups, or made into bamboo shoot canned goods. Bamboo shoots are tender when they first sprout. If you want to dig bamboo shoots for cooking, the best time to do so is when they are still tender. Once the sheath is shed, the bamboo shoot becomes old. At this point, it is best not to dig any more bamboo shoots, as they will soon grow into tall, elegant bamboo. Every bamboo shoot has the potential to grow into a tall bamboo tree. Therefore, when you are playing in the bamboo forest, be careful not to step on the newly sprouted bamboo shoots, as they are fragile. The great Chinese poet Su Dongpo once wrote these two lines: "Better to go without meat than to live without bamboo." This shows that the poet loved bamboo very much. Poets often write poems praising bamboo for its modest and upright nature, while painters often express their admiration for bamboo's unyielding spirit in their works. There are many varieties of bamboo in China, including Moso bamboo, bitter bamboo, Xiangfei bamboo, and feather-duster bamboo, which are distributed in different regions. Bamboo thrives in warm and rainy areas. Some bamboo species flower and produce seeds every autumn, but most never bloom. Some bamboo species only flower once every 40 years, and after flowering, they die. Bamboo has many uses—it can be used to make paper, build houses, make rocking chairs, bamboo beds, and bird cages. Some people say that half of Chinese civilization is "bamboo civilization," which shows how versatile bamboo is. P4-5