Grass beads, also known as blood-sucking beads, can be used as bodhi bracelets, door curtains, and toys. They have five powerful uses.

For rural people born in the 1970s and 1980s, most of the toys they played with as children were made by themselves from flowers and plants found in the countryside, such as earrings made from sweet potato vine petioles to wear on their ears. Corn stalks are used to make glasses, grass beads are used to make bracelets, and neem fruits are used as bullets for slingshots.

At that time, rural children had strong hands-on skills and rich imagination. Today\’s children are better off and their toys are all high-tech, such as airplanes, tanks, etc. Cars, excavators, etc., you can buy whatever you want.

70 Rural children born in the 1980s, do you still remember the straw bead bracelets you made when you were a child? We would go to the riverside in the countryside to pick grass beads, string them up with needlework and wear them on our hands. But at that time, adults often told us that children should not wear grass beads bracelets because they would suck blood and wet the bed. I don’t know if it’s true, but many kids are too scared to wear it after hearing what adults say.

What do grass beads look like?

Grass beads, the scientific name is Coix, is an annual stout herbaceous plant of the genus Coix in the family Poaceae, with yellow fibrous roots. whiteColor, its plant grows very tall, grows in fertile places, can grow to more than 2 meters high, its stem is upright, with more than 10 nodes, branches grow from the nodes, and the leaves are slender and green. Racemes are axillary in bunches, upright or drooping, with long stalks, caryopses are small, contain little starch, and are often not plump. . The flowering and fruiting period is from June to December.

Grass beads are widely distributed in my country, including Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, It grows wild in Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces and regions. It usually grows in front of and behind houses in some humid rural areas, beside ponds, rivers, valleys, streams or on the edges of fields prone to waterlogging. Wild and cultivated.

What is the value of grass beads?

This kind of grass beads, a common plant in rural areas, has many values.

First, young stems and leaves can be fed to pigs and cattle, and old stalks can be used to make fires

Grass beads are an annual plant. In spring, tender green stems and leaves will grow from the roots. The stems and leaves can be cut back and fed to cattle, or they can be chopped and cooked together with other grass and grains to feed pigs.

In autumn, when the grass bead plants are old, they can be cut back and used as firewood. In the past, when every household in rural areas burned firewood, any plant that could be burned was used. Got chopped. Of course, the grass beads growing beside the ditch will not be let go.

Second, mature grass beads can be made into bracelets, door curtains, and toys

Mature grass beads are picked back in autumn and children play with them directly as toys. They can also be used as bullets for slingshots.

They also use needles and threads to pass it through its natural holes, string it into a string, use it as a bracelet, wear it on the hand, and use it as a necklace around the neck.

Some adults string straw beads into a long string and use them as curtains and hang them on the door. They are also very beautiful as decorations. The breeze blows and the beads collide with each other, making a crisp and sweet sound.

The door curtain not only plays a practical role in blocking mosquitoes and dividing space, but also becomes a unique scenery in the home. Moreover, straw bead door curtains are simple to make and low in cost. Even in an era when materials are relatively scarce, they can easily add warmth and elegance to a home.

Third, the seeds of grass beads are edible

The seed kernel in the grass beads is the grain coix kernel. It is sold in supermarkets, but its yield is low, processing is troublesome, and few people grow it.

Fourth, grass beadsSeeds have medicinal value

According to ancient medical books, grass beads are sweet, light and mild in nature. Cold, it has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, nourishing lung qi, dispelling rheumatism, dispersing water qi, sedating and removing spasms. It is often used clinically to strengthen the spleen and stomach, dispel dampness and reduce swelling.

Fifth, grass beads can protect water and soil

The root system of grass beads is very developed, yellow-white in color, and deeply rooted, which can firmly fix the soil and prevent soil erosion. At the same time, grass beads have a strong ability to absorb nutrients in the soil during their growth, which can effectively purify the soil environment and improve soil fertility. Rotation or intercropping of grass beads with other crops can improve land utilization, increase agricultural output, and achieve sustainable development of agriculture.

Friends, you didn’t expect that the straw beads used as toys in childhood also have five wonderful uses. Are there such grass beads in your hometown? #WINTER LIFE CHECK-IN SEASON#