Lao-ye-er Tree

original: "老葉兒樹" (Lǎoyè'ér shù). Literally translated as "Old Leaf Tree," a colloquial name likely referring to its persistent or distinctive foliage. Botanically, it is often identified as a species of Maple (Acer).

Trees, Volume 34

Maple Tree Buds

The Famine Relief Herbaloriginal: "救荒本草" (Jiu Huang Ben Cao). A seminal 15th-century work by Zhu Xiao, a Ming dynasty prince, documenting 414 plants that could be eaten during famines. states: Maple Tree Buds grow in the mountain valleys of Fenggu Peak in JunzhouModern-day Yuzhou in Henan Province.. The tree reaches a height of ten to twenty feet. Its leaves are shaped similarly to wild radish leaves, with five pointed lobes. They also resemble cotton leaves, though they are thinner and smaller, and are also like loofah leaves, but very small and of a pale yellowish-green color. The tree produces white flowers.

The flavor of the leaves is sweet. To prepare them, pick the leaves and scaldoriginal: "煠" (yè). A traditional culinary technique of quickly blanching greens in boiling water to remove bitterness and soften the texture for eating. them until they are thoroughly cooked, then soak them in water until they turn yellow. Change the water and rinse them clean, then season with oil and salt to eat.

According to the Shuowenoriginal: "説文" (Shuowen Jiezi). The first Chinese dictionary, compiled by Xu Shen around 100 CE, which provides the origins of characters and definitions of terms., Maple wood can be used to make the outer rim of a carriage wheeloriginal: "輮" (róu). The process of using heat or steam to bend wood into a curved shape, specifically for the circumference of a wheel.. This is likely the same tree. Since Xu ShuzhongReferring to Xu Shen (c. 58–147 CE), the author of the Shuowen Jiezi. "Shuzhong" was his courtesy name. was a native of Ru'nan An ancient prefecture in present-day Henan, close to the Junzhou region mentioned earlier., he would have been personally familiar with the local flora and the properties of this timber.