Horsetail. Applications. Properties. Blank. Weed. A Photo

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Horsetail. Applications. Properties. Blank. Weed. A Photo
Horsetail. Applications. Properties. Blank. Weed. A Photo

Video: Horsetail. Applications. Properties. Blank. Weed. A Photo

Video: Horsetail. Applications. Properties. Blank. Weed. A Photo
Video: Spore movement of horsetails 2024, March
Anonim

Every spring, among the growing herbs in places, pale stems stick out, similar to densely spaced arrows. These are horsetails - plants are mysterious and unusual. Indeed, no one observed flowers on horsetails; the stems of some species change twice during the season. First, in the spring, arrows with brown tips grow (they are popularly called opestysh), and a month later they are replaced by green Christmas trees, which do not dry out until late autumn

Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Field horsetail (Equisetum arvense)

With its rapid reproduction, this plant gives gardeners a lot of trouble. In addition, it is difficult to fight horsetail: you cannot remove it by plowing - the roots lie deep, but a breakthrough takes a lot of time and also does not completely cleanse the crops. And yet, these measures and fruit change close the weed's access to furrows and ridges. In general, horsetail is an indicator of acidic and waterlogged soils. Liming and draining the area will help get rid of horsetails.

Horsetail herb, rich in valuable medicinal substances, has long been recognized by medical practice as a diuretic for diseases of the kidneys and bladder, as well as an agent that improves blood circulation. Horsetail and old wounds are treated. In this case, use herbal lotion or baths. With sore throat and inflammation of the gums, it is also not out of place to resort to horsetail infusion: two tablespoons of the herb are kept in a glass of cold water, rinse the mouth or throat with the strained liquid. Field horsetail has also proven itself in home cosmetics. Compresses from its infusions and decoctions are especially beneficial to strengthen hair, with inflammation of oily and porous skin.

Only the summer-green grass of the horsetail is prepared for medicinal purposes, the spore-bearing arrows are not suitable for collection, like all extraneous types of horsetails: meadow, forest and marsh. Let's remember their signs. The meadow horsetail is rough, hard, its stems are grooved, the branches are arranged horizontally or even bent downwards. Its forest cousin also has branches down and a fluted stem. The marsh horsetail is tall, its stem is almost as thick as a little finger, a spore-bearing spike can be seen above the upright branches. Horsetail grass feels soft to the touch, with tetrahedral sharp twigs pointing upwards.

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)

© MPF

Horsetail is dried in attics or under a canopy. The finished raw material is a mixture of gray-green furrowed stems with twigs. The smell, though weak, is peculiar, the taste of the grass is sour. They try to avoid chopped stems in the raw materials. Shelf life in a dry room is four years.

Let's talk about the nutritional value of horsetails, especially since there is an opinion that they are all poisonous. Yes, some horsetails justify the suspicion of poisonousness in full, especially for those species that contain alkaloids (for example, marsh). Frequent giving of horsetail hay causes paralysis of the hind limbs in horses - "connecting rod". The disease, by the way, soon ceases if poisonous food is no longer pitted. As for the horsetail, of all the bristly counterparts, it is the least dangerous to animals. After all, it contains almost no alkaloids, and saponins, as poisonous elements, are of very weak action. In any case, this horsetail is not poisonous for cows, sheep and goats, on the contrary, in some northern areas it is not without reason considered lactic forage. It is better for horses not to give this horsetail either.

It is interesting that when grazing, cattle almost do not suffer from horsetails, although they are collected fairly in order to quickly restore strength and fatness.

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© AEngelhardt

This is simply explained: other green herbs seem to soften the active principles of a poisonous plant, have a laxative effect on the body. Moreover, horsetails are not equally poisonous in all phases, they are most dangerous at the age of young "pines". Usually, animals easily recognize local poisonous plants and try to bypass them, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about imported livestock, especially from areas where the composition of herbs is completely different. Horsetails are not afraid of spring grazing, they are more oppressed by summer regular grazing.

In addition to medicinal and fodder value, the horsetail also had some domestic use. Once upon a time, with its hard stalks, they cleaned smoked dishes, polished wood and stone, and dyed wool in gray-yellow tones with a decoction from the roots collected in spring. From the stalks of the marsh horsetail, popularly nicknamed iron ore, they extracted green paint. In some places, tender pushers - spikelets - were eaten as vitamin greens. By the way, horsetails and nodules growing underground are edible, because they are rich in starch.

In historical terms, horsetails are the most ancient representatives of terrestrial vegetation. Their distant ancestors were giants, together with mighty ferns they formed deposits of coal. Now, looking at the green bristles of the grass, one cannot imagine powerful horsetail forests.

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© JF Gaffard

Horsetails are found on all continents, with the exception of Australia. The species diversity of plants is small - there are 25 species around the world, of which about half are found within our country. Horsetail is popularly known as a Christmas tree, earthen cones, pestushki, pigs and streams. The scientific name in translation means "horse tail". The branchy grass, indeed, vaguely resembles a ponytail, especially when the erect branches are lowered with their ends down …

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Based on the materials of the agronomist A.

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