南天竺 sacred bamboo

一直留意到這小灌木,有在公園路旁,也有在郊野地方。因為他愛叢叢綠葉中,偶爾有幾片嫩紅,無論什麼時節。終於在香港公園的溫室外看到一盆種植的,掛著名牌和藥用資料。

昨日經過香港大學,原來一段大樓建築的週邊小花圃,都種了這南天竺。碰巧是其果期。 南天竺是常綠植物,嫩葉會帶紅,成熟回綠,到老又轉紅才枯落。紅色的果子,有毒,但據英文維基資料,對人無大礙,鳥亦然,但對貓、獸則作別論。

nandina or sacred bamboo is native to asia. it caught my attention for long. it is green overall, but there are always few “black sheep”, some leaves just stand out in red.

finally, i found out the name of this plant, and then learnt from wiki that “the young leaves in spring are brightly coloured pink to red before turning green; old leaves turn red or purple again before falling.” chinese can turn any plant into medicine. this plant is toxic overall but it is antitussive.

apparently i caught sacred bamboo, which is not a bamboo at all in botany, fruiting time yesterday.

參考維基百科: 南天竺又名南天竹，屬小檗科南天竹屬，原產於中國、日本，是常綠植物，夏季開白花或粉紅色花，果紅色。其全株有毒。若誤食會產生全身興奮、脈搏不穩、血壓下降、肌肉痙攣、呼吸麻痹、意識模糊等癥狀。在日本，南天竹有消災解厄的意涵，是受歡迎的年花之一

reference: wiki – Nandina domestica commonly known as nandina, heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a suckering shrub in the Barberry family, Berberidaceae. It is a monotypic genus, with this species as its only member. It is native to eastern Asia from the Himalaya east to Japan.