There’s a special kind of fruit in rural Sichuan Province. They look like wolfberries and can change colors: first green, then dark red or black purple. As their color changes, their skins grow thinner.

These are berchemia fruits. Berchemia belongs to Pericarpiaceae, and is distantly related to dates. They can dispel wind and eliminate dampness, dismiss stasis to subdue swelling, and ease pain.

Berchemia grows on the sunny hillsides. Their leaves are elliptic and each lateral vein caves in like embossment. The leaves are like sculptures with clear leaf veins.