Author: Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters Du Gang and Faye Wong
The sand violets in the Gobi only emit fragrance at night, attracting insects that are afraid of heat during the day, and then pollinate and reproduce offspring; the snow lotus on the mountain, the buds of the buds closed at night, and the temperature inside is higher than that of the outside world, becoming the "hotel" of insects. In return, insects pollinate it; the needle grass in the grassland, the twisted outer veins, and the twisted outer veins are used to penetrate the water through mechanical action, like screws, etc....
Although plants each have their own survival skills, in the view of plant hunter Yang Zongzong, these plants cannot speak, cannot move, are easily eaten by cattle and sheep, and will be served on the dining table as wild vegetables, and are a vulnerable group in the earth's biological chain. "They are not giant pandas or golden monkeys. Few people care about them, but an inconspicuous plant may be related to the survival of more than 200 species. Therefore, it is our responsibility to call on more people to understand and protect the plants." When talking about the gradually disappearing plants, he held his hands, his eyes and tone were full of compassion.
Yang Zongzong observed plant specimens through a microscope in the studio (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Faye Wong
Entering the desert and climbing up high mountains to "hunting" plants
Plant hunters were active in Europe in the 18th century. Some explorers went up to the plateau, down to the canyon, crossed dangerous shoals, and married in the mud, introducing rare plants into foreign lands, playing a very important role in the discovery of rare plants and the domestication of varieties.
37-year-old Yang Zongzong is like a hunter chasing prey. He goes wherever flowers bloom. "Plant hunters capture the footprints of plants to better protect them, not possess them," said Yang Zongzong.
In order to find a Fukang Asawei who was almost extinct due to excessive digging and trafficking, Yang Zongzong and his companions searched in the same place for several years, but they returned disappointed every time. Yang Zongzong was unwilling to give up, and later went there again. After climbing the mountain for a day, he finally found Fukang Asawei halfway up the mountain. Later, he and his companions artificially expanded the Fukang Asafoetidae, which protected the survival and continuation of Fukang Asafoetidae to a certain extent.
is not easy to find, but what is even more difficult is to deal with all kinds of mosquitoes. When photographing orchid plants in Habahe County, Xinjiang, Yang Zongzong and his companions were squatting in the wetlands and encountered a bug called Xiaoji, which could bite people through their clothes. They could only wear as many clothes as possible and shoot on rubber gloves. After the shooting was completed, the wrapped body was already soaked in sweat.
At the theme exhibition on native tulips in Xinjiang, Yang Zongzong (right) introduced the specimens of Xinjiang tulips he collected and produced (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Gang
When Yang Zongzong went out to collect specimens, in addition to carrying a large number of reference books, the most important thing was the specimen clip and sealed bag. The desert in Xinjiang is hot and the wind is strong. If you collect the specimen and use newspapers to clip it on the spot, the paper will be blown everywhere, so you must first dip it in some water and then seal it to moisturize.
In 2018, Yang Zongzong and his good friend Chi Jiancai went to a deep mountain in Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture to look for the Wencai Deerez that survives at high altitudes. This is a species endemic to Xinjiang named after Wang Wencai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The National Plant Specimen Museum also does not have the collection of such plants. Yang Zongzong wanted to see Wencai Deerephid and collected a research specimen for Academician Wang Wencai and the National Plant Specimen Museum. He and Chi Jiancai hiked all day and climbed up several hills, but still couldn't find them. At night, the two had to set up tents on the mountain, but they didn't expect that the air leaked everywhere on the roof. After being woken up early the next day, they continued to march towards high altitude areas. The moment he saw the literary deerephid flower, Yang Zongzong remembered that he was extremely excited and his fatigue dissipated. The road back is golden by the sunset. Although the two of them were staggeringly walking, they kept holding the carefully collected specimens.
"A place where specimens were collected, there was a sea of flowers. Standing in front of the sea of flowers, there was a state of happiness that was so empty. That was where we discovered new species, which was very similar to the back mountain in Hayao Miyazaki's work "Hal's Moving Castle". "When Yang Zongzong introduced his work to others, this scene was what he liked to describe the most.
Yang Zongzong and members of the Nature Botanical Society discussed the problems that arise when collecting specimens in the wild (photo taken on October 9). Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Gang photographed
For plants, he devoted all his
Yang Zongzong became acquainted with plants when he was 6 years old. In 1989, he fell in love with plants because of the booklet "Xinjiang Chinese Herbal Medicine Manual". Since then, he began to use pocket money to buy Chinese medicinal materials and visit pharmacies. His favorite toys are syringes and various medicine bottles. Even when he was crying, his father drew a syringe or disinfecting pressure cooker to soothe his emotions.
In 1998, as the first person in my country to discover the "Little Flower, Bird's Nest orchid" plant, he won the first prize in the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition and the only first prize in the first "Yangtze River Little Scientist Award Activity". After achieving the National High School Biology League in his second year of high school, he was admitted to Beijing Normal University to study biology. Later, he suspended plant research for a variety of reasons. But doing business, bartenders and other work made Yang Zongzong feel "out of hope".
In 2016, with the encouragement of his friends, he decided to start studying plants again outside the system. His family thought he quit his job with a stable income and used up all his savings to buy books and professional equipment to study plants, "crazy".
Yang Zongzong made plant specimens in the studio (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Faye Wong, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Walked into his studio. In the 30-square-meter room, the bookshelf on both sides were filled with plant-related books in Chinese, Latin, Russian, English and other texts, as well as some completed and unfinished plant specimens. He said that these more than 1,000 books cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, and nearly 10,000 samples were sorted out, many of which were donated to the National Plant Specimen Museum and the Plant Specimen Room of Beijing Normal University.
"It's hard to say why I like it. I think it's true love to spend all my money and give it all."
In 2017, he registered the official account "Planta's Hunter". "A platform for free plant hunters, discussing classical plant classifications, Xinjiang plant resources and Central Asian plant groups with fellow practitioners."
In 2017, he founded the Nature Botanical Society, attracting about 20 plant lovers from different industries. Based on species background surveys and combined with ecological methods, the Botanical Society of Nature tries to protect endangered plant species through germplasm preservation, extant protection, popular science education, etc., to awaken the public's awareness of protection. Fukang Asafoetida is one of the plants they have protected.
Yang Zongzong made plant specimens in the studio (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Faye Wong
Compared with titles such as "amateur expert" and "plant volunteer", he is more willing to be called "folk plant classification scholar".
Nature Botanical Society member Lei Yiming, Yang Zongzong is not good at speaking and even a little dull, but he talks endlessly when talking about plants, his eyes glowing, "a pure vegetative person." "Xinhua Dictionary" compiled by plants
On June 26 this year, Yang Zongzong and like-minded friends Chi Jiancai and Ma Ming jointly compiled and completed the "Illustrated Book of Wild Vessels in Northern Xinjiang", which was evaluated by the National Science and Technology Academic Books Publishing Fund and was published by Science Publishing House.
This book is also the first time that the Ministry of Science and Technology National Science and Technology Academic Books Publishing Fund supports private individuals to write books. None of the three authors are researchers from professional academic institutions. Chi Jiancai is a farmer in Gongliu County, Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, and Ma Ming is a retired teacher.
This book is like a plant with pictures and texts. It contains 1,602 wild vascular plants in northern Xinjiang, of which 825 are distributed in Xinjiang only in my country, 5 are recorded for the first time in my country, and 5,899 colored plants. Each plant in the book provides scientific names, original documents, morphological identification characteristics, habitat, distribution and credential specimens, and some species are attached with alias, different names, and pattern origins.
This is the "Illustrated Book of Wild Hydrovascular Plants in Northern Xinjiang" (middle) and its manuscripts and modified versions, which were photographed on October 15 in Yang Zongzong's studio (photo taken on October 15). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Faye Wong
Yang Zongzong said that the planning of this book began at the end of 2017.Over the past few years, in order to take a plant with a life cycle of only a few weeks, the three of them went deep into the same desert many times, lying in the desert for dozens of minutes just to take the most ideal plant photos. I often hike all day before I encounter the target species, and even lose many times, without finding anything. Sometimes I go out at dawn, go back to my residence at night, and then press the specimens. Each time I press the specimens until three or four o'clock in the night. Finally, I returned to the studio, sorted the plants one by one, typed numbers and wrote labels, fixed them with strips and then bound them.
"It seems that it has been used for more than two years, but in fact the three of us have accumulated for decades." Yang Zongzong said.
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a master of plant taxonomy Wang Wencai commented: "With this book, it is easier to understand plants in Xinjiang. After picking plant specimens and following the description and color photos in the book, the scientific name of plants can be identified more smoothly. Therefore, this book is of great significance to understanding plants in Xinjiang."
"Although the publication of this book does not have significant economic benefits, it has been recognized by the state for our academic level." Yang Zongzong seemed to have expressed his grievances for many years. In recent years, Yang Zongzong has been recognized by some professionals, but there are also different voices. Even when attending an academic conference, some experts expressed opposition to him coming to listen.
On a mountain in Urumqi, Yang Zongzong (left) and Lei Yiming were collecting specimens of scattered branches and ladder wings (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Faye Wong
Calls on more people to protect plants
From October 11 to 15, the first phase of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Kunming, Yang Zongzong and his friends held a themed exhibition on native tulips in Xinjiang in Urumqi, including specimens and books of different types of tulips in Xinjiang.
Every spring, Urumqi and surrounding mountains are full of goose yellow flowers. Sometimes the number of flowers on a flower can exceed 10, which locals call it "old garlic". According to reports, when food was scarce a long time ago, people would dig their roots and eat them. In recent years, some people have also dig out "old garlic" for curiosity and other purposes.
Yang Zongzong said that "Old Tremella" is actually wild tulips. There are 14 species and 1 variant of the genus tulip in my country, all distributed in Xinjiang. Xinjiang tulips are endemic to the 14 wild tulips in Xinjiang. It is a rare parent species in the cultivation of tulip horticultural varieties. He and his companions gave popular science to the public on the Internet and in life that tulip bulbs contain colchicine, which is toxic, but is actually not suitable for consumption. It takes at least 4 to 5 years to bloom from a seed.
Yang Zongzong made plant specimens in the studio (photo taken on October 10). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Faye Wong
"Because most tulips in Xinjiang are distributed in desert areas near cities, land development and utilization and urban construction have caused considerable harm to it. If you find that someone is still eating it, please invite him to join the ranks of protecting Xinjiang tulips!" Yang Zongzong has said this sentence countless times in the exhibition. When encountering Xinjiang tulips that may be damaged by the project, he will also adhere to the concept of plant hunters and move them to a safe area.
With the efforts of Yang Zongzong and his companions, all wild tulip species in Xinjiang have been listed as the national second-level protection level in the newly adjusted "National Key Protected Wild Plants List". Yang Zongzong said that like Xinjiang wild apples that protect Xinjiang Yili, Xinjiang, it has practical significance for the protection of wild tulips and other species. "When people want to cultivate new varieties of apples and tulips, they need these ancestors who grow in natural environments. They have strong and high-quality genes. These wild planting resources are valuable assets for a country."
Source: Xinhua Daily Telegraph
