Stars in science II

乔治·华盛顿·卡弗:今天你吃花生了吗

George Washington carver: did you eat any peanuts today

In 1904, the boll weevil, a small insect that destroys cotton plant by laying its eggs within it,crossed America. George Washington Carver, an American botanist, knew that the cotton crop was in great danger. "Plough down your cotton. Use medicine to the earth. Then plant peanuts."

Thus he went into his lab with several baskets of peanuts and locked himself in it. In the laboratory were samples of man-made cheese,milk, butter, soap, coffee, and many things which are all made from peanuts.

1904年，棉铃象甲，一种通过在棉铃象甲体内产卵而破坏棉株的小昆虫，穿越了美国。美国植物学家乔治·华盛顿·卡弗(George Washington Carver)知道棉花收成处于极大的危险之中。“把棉花犁下去。”对地球用药。然后植物花生。”

于是他带着几篮花生走进实验室，把自己锁在里面。实验室里有人造奶酪、牛奶、黄油、肥皂、咖啡和许多花生制品的样品。

George Washington Carver , was an American agricultural scientist and inventor. He actively promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion.

While a professor at Tuskegee Institute, Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, as a source of their own food and to improve their quality of life. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed Carver a "Black Leonardo".

乔治·华盛顿·卡弗，美国农业科学家和发明家。他积极推广棉花的替代作物和防止土壤耗竭的方法。

当卡弗还是塔斯基吉研究所的教授时，他发明了一种技术来改良由于反复种植棉花而贫瘠的土壤。他希望贫穷的农民种植花生和红薯等替代作物，作为他们自己的食物来源，并改善他们的生活质量。1941年，《时代》杂志称卡弗为“黑色达芬奇”。

• Peanut pegs growing into the soil. The tip of the peg, once buried, swells and develops into a peanut fruit

• 花生钉长在土壤里。木栓的顶端一旦埋入土中，就会膨胀并发育成花生果实

Peanut is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm tall. As a legume, it belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae (also known as Leguminosae, and commonly known as the bean or pea family).

The leaves are opposite and pinnate with four leaflets . Like many other legumes, the leaves are nyctinastic, that is, they have "sleep" movements, closing at night.

Peanut pods develop underground, an unusual feature known as geocarpy. After fertilization, a short stalk at the base of the ovary (termed a pedicel) elongates to form a thread-like structure known as a "peg". This peg grows down into the soil, and the tip, which contains the ovary, develops into a mature peanut pod.

花生是一种一年生草本植物，长30至50厘米高。作为一种豆科植物，它属于植物科豆科(又称豆科，俗称豆科或豌豆科)。

叶对生，羽状具四小叶。和许多其他豆科植物一样，它的叶子是nyctinastic，也就是说，它们有“睡眠”的活动，在晚上闭合。

花生荚发育在地下，这是一种被称为“地碳”的不寻常特征。受精后，子房基部的一根短茎(称为花梗)伸长，形成一种称为“栓”的线状结构。这个钉子向下长到土壤里，包含卵巢的顶端长成一个成熟的花生荚。