Xinmi Honeysuckle

Xinmi Honeysuckle

　　Xinmi Honeysuckle

　　Xinmi Honeysuckle, also known as Erhua or Yinhua, is a perennial semi-evergreen twining shrub of the Caprifoliaceae family. When it first blooms, the flowers are silvery-white, turning yellow after two or three days. The mix of old and new blossoms, with their yellow and white hues, has earned it the beautiful name “Honeysuckle.” Xinmi City (formerly known as Mixian County) is hailed as the hometown of honeysuckle in Henan Province, boasting a long and storied history of cultivation. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen mentioned in his Compendium of Materia Medica that “honeysuckle comes from Wuzhi Mountain in Mixian County.” The 22nd year of the Jiaqing reign in the Qing Dynasty’s Mishi Annals recorded that “honeysuckle is excellent in both quality and fragrance, and those cultivated in the mountains have yielded considerable profits.” In 1980, at a national evaluation conference held by the China National Pharmaceutical Administration in Beijing, Xinmi’s honeysuckle was ranked the best in the country, earning the title of “Special Grade Erhua,” and thus the praise “Mixian’s Erhua is the finest under heaven, and its Special Grade Yinhua leads the way.”