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Arts & Communication Design application of foliage plants
plantain,” an important theme in classic Chinese literature.
Linear Spider plant The leaf is flat and narrow. Its length is about 5 times the width, and the edges on both sides are nearly parallel. which demonstrates the classic imagery of “night rain on
Lotus, bamboo, and pine are also representatives of foliage
plants that create soundscapes. “Listening to the Rain
Pavilion” of Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou
is named after Tang Lizhong’s “Listening to the rain on
Spatulate Echeveria ‘Black Prince’ The apex is rounded, tapering toward the base. the autumn bamboo,” and “The place for listening to the
pine wind” is taken from the biography of Tao Hongjing:
“I have a deep love for the pine wind; the courtyard is
planted with pines, and every time I hear its sound, I am
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so delighted.”
Scale Arborvitae There are obvious petioles between the leaves. 3. Cultural connotations of foliage plants
Circular Nasturtium It is shaped like a disk. The length and width are nearly equal. 3.1. Totemism
The plant totemism that emerged in ancient times was
essentially the culture of plant worship of our ancestors,
which originated from the primitive ancestors’ reverence
Ovate Peanut The lower part is round and wide, and the upper part is slightly narrow. for plants. At that time, plants were the main source of food
and medicine, and they also possessed great vitality and an
eternal existence, which aroused people’s curiosity and led
Lanceolate Bamboo The leaf base is wider, apex is tapered. to their adoration. Thus, a particular plant was worshiped
as the protector and spiritual pillar of an ethnic group. The
hope of receiving the blessing and shelter of the worshiped
Leaf shape plant is to be well provided with food and to produce
offspring.
Triangle Buckwheat The base is broad and flat, and the lengths of the three sides are nearly equal. The common totem images of foliage plants include
pine trees, maple trees, bamboo, and so on. In the Central
Plains of China, the acacia tree is honored as a sacred tree,
Lozenge Ludwigia sedioides It has equilateral blades. and ethnic minorities have their own plant totem worship,
such as vanilla, banyan, bamboo, pine, and cypress in the
Yi ethnic group; trees, tung wood, and bamboo in the
group; and thatch in the Zhuang ethnic group.
Flabellate Ginkgo It is broad and rounded at the top, tapering toward the base. Miao ethnic group; willow branches in the Manchu ethnic
Table 2. Classification of common shapes of foliage plants 2
3.2. Religious culture
In the process of understanding and relying on nature, the
Palmate Chinese parasol The leaves have three or five lobes, and are shaped like the palm of a hand. ancients gradually developed a belief in plants, combined
it with religion, and deified certain plants for auspicious
meaning.
One representative foliage plant that has its roots in
Cordate Morning glory The base is broad, rounded, and slightly concave, and the apex is tapered. religious culture is the lotus flower, which symbolizes the
pure and untainted mind of Bodhi. According to legend,
when the Buddha was born, a golden lotus would bloom
is also a saying that “the sky is falling, and the Earth is
Elliptic Rubber tree It is widest in the middle, rounded at the tip and base. beneath his feet each time he stepped on the ground. There
flooded with golden lotuses” which describes the scene
of the Buddha preaching the scriptures brilliantly. The
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Features Indicative plants Description 2 Photo reference: https://image.baidu.com/ [Last accessed:
18 October 2023]
Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1854

