今天是腊月初一。“腊月寒梅斗冰霜”——在《十二月花的花名歌》中，这个月最适合观赏的花是“寒梅”，“寒梅”就是腊梅。

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year，and the most radiant flower in this time of year is the Wintersweet. In the ode of December flowers, it is praised for blooming at the same time with snow fake.

此时正值隆冬，川蜀大地迎来一年中最为寒冷的天气。当那些娇艳、富贵的花儿早已“憔悴损”，河渠、湖面已经冰封，街上行人纷纷裹着羽绒服时，在植物园和小区花园中，黄灿灿的腊梅花，却傲然枝头，一朵朵、一簇簇，肆意绽放，传递清香。

It is now midwinter, and Sichuan is embracing the coldest weather in a year. Delicate and coquettish flowers long since haggard, rivers and lakes frozen, people on the street all wrapped up in down jackets, but there in the botanical gardens and community parks, the yellow plum blossoms are stretching their branches, beaming glamorously and wantonly, conveying the refreshing fragrance.

腊梅的别名很多。

因为先花后叶，花与叶不相见，腊梅花开之时枝干枯瘦，故又名干枝梅。蜡梅花开之日多是瑞雪飞扬，欲赏腊梅待雪后，踏雪而至，故又名雪梅。

Wintersweet has many names.

The flowers and leaves don’t come out at the same time, usually the flowers come first and then the leaves. Its branches are withered when blossom, hence the name dry-branch plum.When the snowflakes whirled in the sky, it is the time that wintersweet starts to gleam, and that is why it is called the snow-plum.

腊梅原叫黄梅，花色鹅黄，宛如蜡制。故苏东坡有诗说：“蜜蜂采花为黄蜡，黄蜡为花亦此物”。黄庭坚也有诗：“闻君寺后野花发，香蜜染成宫样黄。”所以，腊梅之前又叫“蜡梅”，又因为在腊月开，所以叫“腊梅”。

名字中虽有“梅”字，但它却不是梅的一种。

The wintersweet was originally called yellow plum, for its goose-yellow color, just like the wax. Su Dongpo said in his poem that bees pick flowers for yellow wax in wintersweet. Huang Tingjian also wrote in his poem that the wax blossom in the back yard can be used for makeups for the ladies, accordingly, it is known as the wax plum.Also, it blooms in the twelfth month of the lunar year, hence it is given the name twelfth-lunar-month plum.

It contains plums in its various names, however, it does not belong to any of the actual plum species.

因为腊梅属腊梅科，梅属蔷薇科。它们的不同之处在于：花朵颜色上，腊梅以蜡黄为主，梅花有白、粉红、紫红等色;腊梅开花期早于梅花两个月且均为直枝，而梅花除有直枝外，还有垂枝;腊梅为灌木，而梅花为乔木;腊梅叶片对生，梅花叶为互生。

The wintersweet belongs to the winter plum family, and the plum belongs to Rosaceae. They differ in color. Wintersweet is mainly sallow yellow, while plum blossoms are white, pink, purple and red. Wintersweet blooms two months earlier than plum blossom, and they are all straight branches, while plum blossoms have vertical branches besides straight branches. Wintersweet is a shrub, while plum blossoms are trees; The former has opposite leaves, and the latter has alternate leaves.

“凌寒独自开”的梅花，象征着坚韧不拔，奋勇当先，自强不息的精神品质。

腊梅也是如此“孤傲”——任凭寒潮肆虐、前路艰险，依旧如期而至，用微笑着去迎接崭新的春天!

The wintersweet blossoming in heavy snow symbolizes the spirit of perseverance, courage and self-improvement.Despite the raging storm and harsh condition, it still blooms with glamour and grace to embrace the upcoming spring.

小档案✦

蜡梅，蜡梅科蜡梅属，落叶灌木，常丛生。先花后叶，芳香，直径2~4厘米;花被片圆形、长圆形、倒卵形、椭圆形或匙形，无毛，花丝比花药长或等长，花药内弯，无毛，花柱长达子房3倍，基部被毛。果托近木质化，口部收缩，并具有钻状披针形的被毛附生物。

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Wintersweet, Calycanthaceae family, deciduous shrubs, often cespitose; Flowers followed by leaves, fragrant, 2-4 cm in diameter; tepals orbicular, oblong, ob-ovate, elliptic or spatulate, glabrous; filaments longer than or equal to anthers, anthers re-curved, glabrous, style 3 times as long as ovary, base hairy. Fruiting receptacle sub-woody, mouth contracted with subulate-lanceolate hairy appendages.

蜡梅在百花凋零的隆冬绽蕾，斗寒傲霜，利于庭院栽植，又适作古桩盆景和插花与造型艺术，是冬季赏花的理想名贵花木。花芳香美丽，是园林绿化植物。根、叶可药用，理气止痛、散寒解毒，治跌打、腰痛、风湿麻木、风寒感冒，刀伤出血;花解暑生津，治心烦口渴、气郁胸闷;花蕾油治烫伤。

Wintersweet blooms in the midwinter when other flowers are withered.It is ideal for garden planting,bonsai, flower arranging and plastic art, shimmering and flagrant in the dead of winter. Roots and leaves can be used for medicinal purposes, regulating Qi and relieving pain, dispersing cold and detoxifying, curing lumbago,cold, rheumatism and numbness,knife cuts and wounds. Flowers can resolve summer heat and produce fluids to treat heartburn and thirst, depression and chest congestion; Flower bud oil can heal burns.