Peony flowers are elegant and mostly red. Above, "Huodan", also known as "Changhong", is the most popular peony variety. According to legend, this flower is transformed from the three golden elixirs of Taishang Laojun, and comes from Qianxi Temple on Longmen Mountain in Luoyang. At the beginning, when people were watching, they could only see the fireball burning ten paces away, and they didn't see the peony flowers until they got closer. When the monks in the temple transplanted peony, it was out of season and hurt the treasure of this flower. From then on, "fire peony" is no longer as hot as before. Later, this flower gradually spread to the people, because this peony came from Qianxi Temple, and people also called it "Qianxi Princess". According to this legend, the name "fire alchemy" is related to the alchemy refined by Taishang Laojun. In my opinion, the layers of red petals of this flower are surrounded by yellow anthers, showing the image of an alchemist in the fire, which should be the reason why people weave legends. Ah, an alchemist of fire, what a beautiful name, which adds a lot of color to peony.

Peony is rare in the local area, but chrysanthemum is very common. Many years ago, my classmates told me that this kind of chrysanthemum above is called "fire alchemy" The petals of this flower are red on the surface and golden on the back. The outer petals are flat and the inner petals are folded in. In this way, the overall effect is that the red outside is wrapped in the yellow in the middle, just like an alchemist in the fire, hence the name "an alchemist of fire". I liked the name at that time.

Yesterday, I happened to dream of a friend, and I thought of this flower. I searched on Baidu, and the result surprised me. Chrysanthemum comes from an unknown "fire alchemy" variety, but peony has such a variety, and the real variety of chrysanthemum on it is called "Jinbei Dahong". I can't help but laugh. I have been wrong for more than ten years and I don't know at all. So what if I know? I still like this poetic mistake. "Golden back is red" is not as good as "fire alchemy". The alchemy of fire is related to a friend of mine.

I prefer chrysanthemums to peonies. In my dictionary, it is called "Fire Elixir" and will remain in my memory forever.

This is the first article in the column "Distinguishing Names from Things". What do I know about names and things? Hee hee.