flstandardbreds Chapter 159: Guayule
Chapter 159: Guayule
Yun Xi said to the system: "Check if there are any other plants that can be used in this wilderness."
"Ok."
While waiting for the system to detect, Yun Xi took Mu Jinyan to count. Although they didn't know how many kinds of plants there were, they could count how many kinds of plants there were in this area.
Mu Jinyan started counting with her little mouth, and counted out dozens of them without any effort.
Yun Xi knew that he couldn’t count them all.
In an original ecological environment, there are usually more than 4000 species of plants and thousands of animals. The biodiversity is very rich, which is far beyond the comparison of the artificial pure forests in later generations.
The system quickly collected all the information and said to Yun Xi, "There are quite a few plants that can be used, but not many that are special. There are also many plants like apricot, natan, and plum in the mountains near Yunjiazhuang, but they are not special. But there is one kind that the host would never have thought of: there is guayule here."
"Rubber grass?"
"It is a kind of grass that can produce rubber. But the rubber grass we usually refer to is the Russian dandelion. The silver guayule is one of the two main rubber-producing herbs along with the Russian dandelion. There are 2500 plants in the world that can be used to extract rubber, and these two are the most important ones besides the rubber tree."
"I remember that during World War II, because the rubber supply was blocked, both guayule and Russian dandelion were promoted. After the war ended and the rubber supply was restored, the cultivation of these two plants almost stopped."
"Yes, and then it became popular again. People are chasing naturalness and are reluctant to use synthetic rubber. Natural rubber is not enough. In addition, more and more people are allergic to natural rubber. The rubber extracted from these two herbs is almost non-allergenic, so it has attracted attention again. The latex and tires made from their rubber are more expensive."
“Last question, isn’t guayule an invasive species?”
System: "...A parallel world."
In fact, if the system had said it a little later, Yun Xi would have seen the silver gum. This thing has extremely strong vitality and often grows on roadsides, river banks, wastelands, and slopes. It grows in large patches and looks a bit like baby's breath. The flowering period is particularly long, and it blooms for more than half a year.
Beautiful, but poisonous.
"Mom, there are flowers!"
Mu Jinyan knew that Yun Xi liked flowers, so every time he went to the farm, he would pick some wild flowers to put in the vase. He also planted a lot of them at home, and there were even large tracts of flowers planted in his mother's manor.
So, when he saw this small flower, he would rush forward and pick it for Yun Xi.
Yun Xi grabbed him and said, "Baby, don't pick flowers in the wild casually. What if they are poisonous?"
Mu Jinyan has not yet realized what "toxic" means, but he judged from Yun Xi's attitude that this is not a good thing.
He stood there obediently, listening to Yun Xi continue: "We have to be careful with things we don't know, understand? Just like wasps can sting people, poisonous snakes can bite people to death, and some flowers look beautiful, but they are actually poisonous, so don't touch things you don't know easily."
"Uh-huh."
Mu Sheng added, "Your mother is right. This poisonous weed is very common in border areas. If people touch it, red spots will appear all over their body. In serious cases, some people may even have difficulty breathing. It's not life-threatening, but it makes people uncomfortable. When the locals see it, they will dig it up, dry it, and burn it."
Mu Jinyan held Yun Xi's hand and walked carefully through the field of silver gum daisy, reminding her, "Mom, be careful, don't touch the poisonous weeds."
"Okay, be careful too."
The system said: "Host, don't you want to pick it? Think about your rubber tires."
Yun Xi was a little excited at first, but she had calmed down a long time ago. "How do I extract it? This thing is not like the rubber tree where you can just cut the bark and collect the rubber. You also need acetone and other organic solvents. How do I get those things out?"
System: "...Forget it for now. We'll use it when the conditions are right."
Nowadays, there are not only many kinds of plants in the wild, but also many kinds of insects. Small sounds are often heard in the grass, which are made by small insects crawling or jumping in it. However, this place is too wild, and Yun Xi only dared to walk on the official road and did not dare to go into the wild at all.
But the birds are not afraid. They walk and fly in the wild, stick their beaks into the grass, and then lift them up to hold a bug.
There were many kinds of birds. In just a short while, Yun Xi saw the golden pheasant, the white-breasted kingfisher, the white-crowned long-tailed pheasant, and the crested fish dog. Unlike her original world, people living in the city saw sparrows, turtledoves, magpies, and crows the most. Even if she went to the mountains, she had to rely on a telescope to see other birds.
Mu Sheng called these four birds Phoenix Bird, White-throated Emerald Bird, Long-tailed Pheasant, and Fish Dog.
Mu Jinyan had never seen these birds before and was very excited. Mu Sheng didn't react much, as he had seen many of them. Yun Xi and Mu Jinyan had a heated discussion about which one was the most beautiful.
Yun Xi's favorite is the Golden Pheasant, which has a yellow head, a red body, a small yellow patch on the tail, and a long brown tail, which is very bright. No wonder it is called the Phoenix Bird.
Mu Jinyan loves the white-breasted emerald. It has a white chest, a blue back, brown wing tips, and a blue tail. It looks very bright from behind, and has a kind of naive beauty from the front.
The two argued endlessly. Mu Jinyan thought the golden pheasant was too bright, while Yun Xi thought the white-breasted emerald was too cold.
Mu Xuan, who was sitting in the carriage reading a book, was disturbed by the quarrel. He jumped off the carriage, stretched his legs, and joined the judging panel of the bird beauty contest.
"I think the long-tailed pheasant is more distinctive. It is obviously a bird, but when its feathers are closed, it looks like a row of scales, like the scales of a fish. With its white head and dark circles under its eyes, it looks like it is wearing a mask, giving it a sense of mystery."
Yun Xi and Mu Jinyan glanced at him and said, "Its head looks really funny."
Mu Xuan: “…”
Although they could not reach a consensus on who was the best looking, they were basically unanimous about the crowned fish dog: it was the ugliest.
Yun Xi wanted to say that it looked a bit non-mainstream, but considering that no one knew what non-mainstream meant, she could only say that it didn't look very serious. Mu Jinyan said that the crest on its head was a bit funny. Mu Xuan's reason was that it looked too dull and stupid.
There are crested fish dogs here, which means there is water nearby. If you walk in, it may be a wetland or a lake.
After walking for a while, Yun Xi felt tired and took Mu Jinyan back to the carriage and continued towards Guangshan.
Top left: Crested fish dog. Bottom left: Golden pheasant. Top right: White-crowned long-tailed pheasant. Bottom right: White-breasted kingfisher.
Guayule