The osmanthus flowers in Li Ao Village, Longguan Township, Haishu are blooming, and the elegant fragrance fills the whole village.
Li Ao Village is known as the "Hometown of Osmanthus Flowers in China". When the osmanthus flowers bloom, the villagers use a huge tarpaulin under the tree, knock down the osmanthus flowers with bamboo poles, collect and pick up the branches and leaves.
Osmanthus has wide use, high economic value and a broad development and utilization prospect.
Osmanthus is one of the bestselling trees for garden landscaping. Among the top ten flowers, osmanthus tree is the largest and most fragrant and has the densest leaves. As osmanthus is an evergreen it has a pleasant scent, integrates greening, beautification, aromatization and possesses ornamental and practical value. It has become a famous and precious tree in gardens. It sells well in Wuhan, Shanghai and other medium to large cities.
Osmanthus is a rare industrial material and is famous for its heavenly scent. The flowers contain various kinds of rare aromatic substances like decalactone and ionone. The osmanthus extract is sold in the international market at a price of 2,000 dollars/kg. With osmanthus as a raw material, a series of products, such as, osmanthus cakes, osmanthus paste and osmanthus wine have been developed. In addition, osmanthus also contains triacontane and carotene and has great health and medicinal value.
Osmanthus trees are an excellent material of high-class furniture and carvings. Osmanthus trees are as hard as rhinoceros horns and have a fine texture. They are glossy and not easily cracked or deformed. The furniture and carvings made from osmanthus trees are durable and give off its famous scent.
By Jin Lu