"Bonsai?" Zeng Gong asked suspiciously, there are no bonsai here. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Bonsai is one of the outstanding traditional arts of the Chinese nation. It takes plants, rocks, soil, water and other materials as materials, through artistic creation and horticultural cultivation, in the pot typical, concentrated shaping of the beautiful scenery of nature, to achieve the artistic effect of shrinking the dragon into inches, small in the big, at the same time, with the scenery to express the nostalgia, the far-reaching artistic conception, just like the three-dimensional beautiful miniature version of the landscape scenic spot.

The main material of bonsai itself is a natural object, with a natural charm. Plants also have the characteristics of life and are able to take on different landscapes over time and with the change of seasons. Bonsai is a living work of art, an organic combination of natural beauty and artistic beauty. Bonsai is an artistic miniature product of landscape or garden flower and tree landscape presented in potted vessels. Mostly with trees, flowers, rocks, water, soil, etc. as materials, through ingenious layout, modeling treatment and careful maintenance, it can concentrate on the beauty of mountains and rivers and garden art in the close space, and become a poetic desk and garden decoration, often known as "silent poetry, three-dimensional painting".

"Hehe, sir, please come with me. The boss saw that Zeng Gong was very interested in bonsai, and enthusiastically took Zeng Gong through the back door, but he didn't think that there was a hole in the sky, a pot of stump bonsai was scattered all over the yard, and the green trees gave people a sense of vitality.

"How's it going, sir?" The boss looked at Zeng Gong proudly, but he spent a lot of money to buy these stump bonsai from China, just to sell them to those Chinese.

"Boss, how do you sell this bonsai?" Zeng Gong asked, pointing to a sparse cypress bonsai.

"Sir, you have a good eye, this is one of the best bonsai we have here, and $500 is not expensive at all. The boss spoke English with an eastern accent and spoke very quickly.

"$500 is too much. Zeng Gong shook his head, then pointed to a smaller banyan bonsai next to him and said, "If you can count this pot, I will agree." ”

"No, no, sir, you give too little, can you give a little more, you see that this banyan bonsai is also a boutique of the best, if I sell it to you like this, I will lose money." The boss shook his head, when he was in China, his friends used to say that this banyan bonsai was a fine product and should never be sold cheaply.

"Banyan tree, you say this is a banyan tree?" Zeng Gong said incredulously, in his impression that the banyan tree should not be like this.

Banyan tree, a large tree, up to 15-25 meters high, with a diameter at breast height of 50 cm and a wide canopy; Old trees often have rusty brown aerial roots. The bark is dark gray. The leaves are thin leathery, narrowly elliptic, dark green on the surface, shiny, entire.

Banyan tree (ficus microphylla), the tree is up to 20~30m, DBH up to 2m; the crown is very extended, with peculiar roots exposed to the surface, up to 3~4m wide, like a fence.There are aerial roots, weak overhang and the ground, into the soil to take root, like a pillar;the crown is huge, broadly ovate or umbrella-shaped;the bark is gray-brown, the branches and leaves are dense, the shade covers the ground, it is very spectacular.The leaves are leathery, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, sometimes obovate, 4~10cm long, the inflorescence is solitary or in pairs in the leaf axils, oblate and obovate, 5-l0 mm in diameter, the whole margin or shallow wavy, the apex is obtuse, the base is nearly rounded, the leaves are alternate, the leaf surface is dark green, shiny, glabrousCryptoflora axillary, nearly spherical, milky white at the beginning, yellow or light red when ripe, flowering period of 5~6 months, fruit diameter of about 0.8cm, fruit ripening period of 9~10 months. It is the favorite food of small birds.

"Of course it's a banyan tree, is it still some other tree?" Looking at Zeng Gong's puzzled expression, he also said uncertainly, although he also did a bonsai business, he didn't know much about bonsai.

"Of course it's not a banyan tree. Zeng Gong said firmly.

"Whatever it is, but it's pretty, isn't it?" said the boss unceremoniously.

"$500, I'll take it all. Zeng Gong said seriously, and glanced at the surrounding situation from time to time, for fear that someone would snatch love.

"Mr. Zeng, do you mean five hundred dollars and two pots, and you take them all?" said the boss in surprise.

"Of course. Zeng Gong nodded, the money was just a piece of waste paper to him.

"Where is the gentleman going to send these bonsai?" asked the boss cautiously, not expecting this to be a big deal.

"Send it to Livingston, Montana, and someone will pick you up. Zeng Gong said lightly, and then signed a contract with the boss, and then transferred the money, he didn't have time to listen to the boss's blessing and held a small bonsai in his arms, this is the bonsai he found in the corner.

"What's the matter, Mr. Zeng has something wrong with this bonsai. The boss saw the bonsai in Zeng Gong's arms, and asked with some confusion, I don't know why Zeng Gong chose this bonsai to hold in his arms and not let go.

"Because she's a coral. Zeng Gong hesitated for a moment and said directly.

"You say it's a coral?" the boss pointed to the bonsai in Zeng Gong's arms and exclaimed in surprise, this doesn't look like a coral at all, how can it be a coral.

Coral is a group of polyps or fossilized bones, named after the ancient Persian word ?sanga (stone). The polyp is a marine cylindrical coelenterate, food enters through the mouth, food residue is excreted from the mouth, it feeds on the small plankton in the ocean, and can absorb calcium and carbon dioxide from the seawater during its growth, and then secrete limestone, which becomes its own survival shell. In China, coral is a symbol of auspiciousness and wealth, and has always been used to make precious handicrafts. Red coral, along with amber and pearls, is collectively known as organic gemstones. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty often wore pearls made of red coral in the ritual of the dynasty. Coral also has the effect of nourishing beauty and invigorating blood and brightening the eye, and is a precious medicinal material of traditional Chinese medicine.

Coral is like a tree branch, bright and beautiful in color, and can be used as an ornament. Gem-quality corals are red, pink, orange-red. The red color is due to the absorption of about 1% of the iron oxide in the seawater during the growth of the coral, and the black color is due to the organic matter it contains. It has a vitreous to waxy luster, opaque to translucent, and a refractive index of 1.48-1.66. The hardness is 3.5-4 and the density is 2.6-2.7 g/cm3, and the density of black coral is lower at 1.34 g/cm3. Brittle. Strong blistering in case of hydrochloric acid. Non-fluorescent.

The ancient Romans believed that coral had the functions of preventing disasters, giving wisdom, stopping bleeding and repelling heat. It is closely related to Buddhism, and Buddhists in India and Tibet in China regard red coral as the embodiment of the Buddha, and they use coral as a mascot to worship the Buddha, mostly used to make Buddhist beads, or used to decorate statues, and is a highly prized jewelry gemstone variety.

"It's just a coral, a coral that's wrapped. Zeng Gong said seriously, (To be continued.) )