Wild palm trees are not common in the mountains, probably because they are full of treasures, and they have suffered a lot of damage a long time ago.

Its leaves can be used to make cattails, its fruits can be used in medicine, and its fur can be used to make lily clothes......

All over its body, except for the old and hard broken petioles, which no one can look down on, the rest of the things, even the leaves stained with bird droppings, will be regarded as treasures by the mountain people.

Palm tree is a common name for palm.

Although the palm trees in the city can grow tall and large, in the mountains, the palm trees are a little shorter.

In general, palm trees are rarely seen more than five or six meters tall, and most wild palm trees are kept within the range of five or six meters in height.

The trunk of the palm tree is thick and straight, and there are no side branches. Some of its leaves, which tend to cluster at the top, look like a giant umbrella.

Although it is rare to encounter wild palm trees in the mountains now, it is not difficult for Liu Qingshan to find palm leaves.

Grandpa seemed to have expected that the wild palm trees would become extinct in the mountains, so he transplanted the two wild palm trees in the mountains to his own mountain early.

Once planted in one's own mountain, it is one's own property, and others are categorically inviolable. No matter how much they longed for the treasure on the wild palm tree, as long as Grandpa didn't agree, they could only watch from afar, not get close.

The two wild palm trees in the mountains are not very tall, far less tall than the palm trees in the parks in the city.

Grandpa once said that the two palm trees are male and female, the taller one is the male tree, and the shorter one is the female tree.

Although I don't know if grandpa is joking, or serious, but in the spring and summer of each year, when the two palm trees are verdant and the leaves are touching, they really look like a pair of intimate lovers.

Their verdant greenery adds a shade to the mountains, and some of the newly-sprouted green leaves hide in the foliage like naughty children, protected from some sun and rain under the care of the trees.

In this season, the palm trees are also tinged with a little gold, rendering the colors of the mountains.

The male tree pointed straight to the sky, as if pointing out the direction for the tender green leaves, and as if trying to support this small sky.

The female tree lowered her body, attentively watching the two trees around her.

Not to mention, these two trees are really a bit like parents and parents supporting each other.

Although my father doesn't have the ability to reach the sky, over the years, he can be regarded as supporting a family on his own.

Although my mother can't do heavy work, she also manages the housework with two diligent hands, and takes care of everything in the house in an orderly manner.

The form of the palm tree resembles a large umbrella that brings shade to people.

However, the last thing that is lacking in the mountains is this kind of tree that can provide people with protection from the scorching sun. Moreover, there are more wild trees that are taller and denser than palm trees, so people do not look down on the little shade of palm trees.

In this case, what is the point of grandpa transplanting palm trees?

Palm trees are flowering plants.

However, the flowers that bloom do not have the holiness of winter plum blossoms, nor the pink and tender spring peach blossoms, nor do they attract the admiration of tall trees with their brilliant colors like other colorful wildflowers.

Its flowers don't look like flowers, but like handfuls of sorghum.

Whenever the palm tree blooms, there are always many small birds standing on it to rest, arguing about whose feathers are more beautiful, and pecking at the spikes of the palm tree with their sharp beaks.

When the flowering period is over and the fruit is ripe, the mountain people will collect the seeds of the palm trees, the palmetto seeds.

Palmetto seeds can be used in medicine and are a good choice for the treatment of chronic hepatitis.

Liu Qingshan had liver disease once when he was a child, and his grandfather used some herbs to boil water with palmetto seeds for him to drink, but it didn't take long for the liver disease to be cured, and it never recurred after that.

In addition to the palmetto seeds that can be used in medicine, there is also a treasure on the palm tree, that is, a layer of black and yellow fibers on its trunk. That's the bark of the palm tree.

In the old days, my grandfather would always peel off the bark of two palm trees and go home and join them tightly together with a piece of flax or twine.

When it rains, drape it on your back to cover the rain, especially when you want to dig herbs in the mountains on rainy days, people are very tired, and the clothes will be better than plastic products, it is not only breathable, but also cold-proof. Therefore, every year Grandpa has to make a coat to prepare.

However, later, when Grandpa died, those robes followed Grandpa.

Although the coat is gone, the palm tree is still there.

Moreover, the most versatile use of palm trees is their leaves.

When the farm was not working, my father would cut off the leaves of the palm tree with the petioles with a woodcutter, put them in the sun to dry, and then cut off the scattered leaves on the periphery and weave them into a hat with scorn. When it rains, my mother has to go to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables, or go to the yard to feed the chickens and ducks, and there is no need to use an umbrella or batch of rain tape, as long as you bring a big hat, you can ensure that you are not disturbed by the rain.

And if the intact leaves are cut into an arc and rolled inward along the edges on a slender chunk, and tied with a rope, a puff fan will come out. The surface of the fan has deep lines, but it looks like the dense wrinkles on my father's face.

Nowadays, although fans are no longer a luxury, my father still loves to make pu fans. He said that every time he shook the pu fan, he smelled the medicinal fragrance from the pu fan, and felt like his father was still busy grinding medicinal herbs.

Zongye is also a kind of medicine, so the wind coming out of the pu fan will exude a faint medicinal fragrance.

Thinking about it this way, my father also misses his father very much.

Liu Qingshan stood under the palm tree, and after reminiscing, he used a woodcutter to chop two palm leaves.

Although the palm trees are not tall, they have become their own thing, so they have not been damaged by others, so they are tall and tall, and their leaves are verdant, and they look very imposing.

Liu Qingshan touched the two palm trees, and said with a smile unconsciously: "Alas, you have to thank my grandfather, if my grandfather hadn't dug you back and planted here, you would have been stripped of your clothes and cut off your leaves by the villagers." ”

The two palm trees swayed their leaves gently in the breeze, as if they really understood Liu Qingshan's words.

When I got home, my mother had already boiled a pot of potbelly dumplings with water.

As soon as my feet entered the house, I smelled a fragrant smell.

Liu Qingshan threw the palm leaves on the ground and ran to the kitchen: "Mom, quickly fill me a bowl." ”

Wu Cuimei was standing on the edge of the stove, stirring the potbelly in the boiling water with a spoon.

The potbelly is holding its big belly and tumbling in the boiling water, and the golden natural dye dyes the boiling water leaves in the pot golden yellow.

She turned around and said, "What's the hurry, aren't you afraid of burning your mouth? ”

Liu Qingshan didn't say a word, and quickly made a small half bowl of chili sauce out.

Holding a small half bowl of chili sauce in one hand and an empty porcelain bowl in the other, he waited pitifully aside, watching his mother stirring the pot-bellied baba in the pot unhurriedly.

After waiting for a while, my mother slowly took the bowl in his hand and then scooped him a potbelly poop.

Liu Qingshan was overjoyed, quickly put down the chili sauce, grabbed the chopsticks and was about to eat.

"Take it to your grandfather first. Mom said.

Liu Qingshan had no choice but to put down his chopsticks again and came to the hall with a porcelain bowl with a big belly.

In the middle of the innermost wall of the hall is a counter more than one meter high.

The counter was a little old, and the red paint on it had fallen off a lot, and dust was everywhere.

In the middle of the countertop, there is an incense altar the size of a head, which is dedicated to planting bamboo incense.

Liu Qingshan put the bowl on the countertop, and then took out three bamboo sticks from the counter drawer.

A lighter lit the bamboo incense stick and inserted it into the incense jar that was already filled with incense ash and red bamboo incense feet.

After that, he said to the black and white portrait of his grandfather next to the incense altar: "Grandpa, it's time to eat potbelly." ”