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Longest water spinach-world record set by
Li Hui
DATANG, China -- A 14 meter long water spinach
planted in Datang village in the central Chinese city of Changsha
sets the world record for the Longest water spinach.
Photo: Two girls are playing on "swings"
- leaves of a fourteen-meter-long hollow vegetable in Datang
village in the central Chinese city of Changsha. / Photo:
hnol. net (enlarge
photo)
The cultivator of the fourteen-meter-long
crop, Li Hui, planted the water spinach on the roof of the
house she was living in. The building is only nine-meters
tall thus the long leaves of the expanding vegetable hang
down to the ground, forming a natural "green waterfall", Hunan-based
Sanxiang City Express reports.
It is almost unbelievable that the leaves
are so strong that many local children are fond of using them
as swings.
Li Hui said that she bought the seeds of this
extraordinary plant in March, only hoping it could provide
shade for the house. However, the vegetable grew
much faster than she anticipated.
Li knew the growing habits of the plant very
well so she lovingly watered it twice a day at certain times
and regularly added farmyard manure.
Now, the colossal water spinach can already shade
the whole house from the sun. "It functions like an effective
air conditioning system. I feel cool inside," Li said happily.
The "green waterfall" had become a hit in the
small town. Visitors, local growers, and especially kids,
like to stop for a while to observe or play with the vegetable.
When the frost descends at the end of October
the plant may wither, however, Li was confident that her vegetable
could continue growing and become leafier.
A teacher with the Hunan Agricultural University
was also surprised that the vegetable could be so abundant
on a roof!
She described the water spinach, also knows as
Hollow vegetable , water celery, swamp cabbage, water convolvulus
or water morning-glory, as a semi-aquatic tropical plant grown
as a leaf vegetable. It is most commonly grown in China's
Yangtze River drainage area and some southern provinces including
Guangdong.
Monday, August 18, 2008
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