Plants in our university

A garden at the South gate (Our university) / Shot : Lee Yuri

 Honestly, I didn’t know what are the school-representative tree and flower even I finished my freshman term. And I think there are a lot of students like me at our university. So I will show you some school-representative plants and a tree which is in the book.

School-representative tree: Zelkova / Flower language: Destiny

 Zelkova’s flower blooms in May. We can see it in the garden which is in front of the College of Ocean Science and Engineering. There are 64 old-growth and a giant tree in South Korea, and 24 of them are Zelkova. It is the highest percentage. It has been holy from the Silla Dynasty, so there are even over-1000-year-old trees. And those 14 trees are designated as a natural monument.

 Its wood can be a high-quality ingredient from furniture to ship. And we can eat the young leaves by making a ‘Tteok’ (Korean rice cake) in spring.

School-representative flower: Forsythia / Flower language: Hope, Expectation, Deep affection, Achievement

 Forsythia can be seen everywhere from the late in March. We can see it often but there are just a few natives.

 There is a legend on this flower. There was a princess who loved birds. And she filled the palace with the golden cages. The people caught the birds all day and all night. One day, an old man decorated a crow beautifully, and asked her to release other birds. She did it, but she knew it was a crow and killed the old man. And she also died soon. After that, the Forsythia which is similar to the golden cage bloomed.

Special: A kind of clove tree (Native lilac) / Flower language: Dignity

 Native lilac can be seen from May. It goes over to North America in 1947, and it was improved in 1954 which we know. Native lilac is in danger. So it was pushed back on the Western lilac, and we couldn’t see it often.

 Even though Western lilac is spreading in the whole country, our university planted it for the first time in the whole university in South Korea. You can see it next to the Industrial-Academic cooperation Group. There is ‘Native garden’ in there and you can see other 8 naive lilacs also. And by this, our university was also exposed to the book. (Read Wanseo Park by the flower – Mincheol, Kim)

 While getting around our university, we can see various flowers and trees. And we take a picture of them. But normally, we aren’t interested in their names or language. Being interested in small things make us hearty, and even makes our university looks more beautiful. Now you know the power of ‘little interest’ and I hope you use it well and frequently.