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自然環境
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Fenghsan City's Symbolic
Tree: Camphor
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Camphor, regarded as one of the plants indigenous to Fenghsan,
belonging to Lauraceae family, is an evergreen stately tree and can
grow as tall as more than 30 meters. Its bark runs vertically and
its oval-shaped leaves, with wavy edges, look bright and smooth. The
season for its white blossom is spring. Its habitat is everywhere
around and below the mid-sea level; besides, it finds home in such
places as Japan and the area of China below the Yangtze River. Camphor,
once ranked number 1, used to be an important agricultural item for
exportation. However, in late Ching Dynasty, almost all the camphor
was overly exploited, which in turn caused camphor industry to dwindle
in cities such as Taipei, Miali Nantou and Kaohsiung. Afterwards,
manmade forestry makes many highways, streets and pavements lined
with camphor, which thus is able to offer cool shades. |
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Camphor, from its blossom, seeds, leaves and especially its stump,
is rich in the fragrance of essence. A rub of the either fallen camphor
leaves or the ones on the tree will bring out its fragrance. Extraction
of camphor for the making of camphor oil and pills was once pretty
prevalent because its fragrance helped ward off annoying pests. Apart
from that, it was used for the making of furniture and the carving
of wooden idols. During the time before the presence of synthetic
camphor was available, it even served as the indispensable ingredient
for the medicine--aspirin. Therefore, it was popular for its high
economic values. |
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There are two reasons for camphor to be honored as the Fenghsan
City tree. To begin with, its white blossoms giving off light fragrance
are symbolic of simplicity; furthermore, the grown camphor, tough
and sturdy, is viewed as a symbol for tolerance, perseverance and
longevity. As can be seen in the picture, in Fenghsan Tropical Horticultural
Experimental Farm, there are two long-lived, flourishing camphor trees,
which can be dated far back to the Japanese colonial period. |
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