Spring Osmanthus

Spring Osmanthus is actually the Sweetleaf original: shanfan (山礬); Symplocos stellaris. Its original name was the Fir Flower original: conghua (樅花). The Song dynasty scholar Huang Shangu original: 黃山谷; the pseudonym of the famous poet Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) renamed it "Mountain Alum" original: shanfan (山礬) because its leaves can be used for dyeing? and can produce a fixed color without the need for added alum Alum was a mineral commonly used in ancient times as a mordant to fix dyes to fabric; this plant's leaves naturally contained the necessary minerals to bypass this step. Some identify it as the "Sun Flower" original: yanghua (陽花), but this is a grave error that has already been corrected by scholars of the Song Dynasty.

Technical Terms:
Spring Osmanthus, Sweetleaf, Fir Flower, Huang Shangu, Sun Flower, Song Dynasty Scholars