2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Swamps / Lythrum / is a genus of annual or perennial herbaceous hairy plants belonging to the Blatievi family. The most widespread species of this genus in Bulgaria is the common marsh, also known as marsh, willow, willowherb, foxtail, yeast, common willow.
The ordinary swamp / Lythrum salicaria / has a short, rooted rhizome. Its stem is up to 1 m high, 4 - 6-ridged, covered, like leaves, with trichomes. The leaves of the common marsh are heart-shaped, lanceolate, sessile, the lower opposite, usually two, but sometimes three in the vertebrae, and the upper ones are consecutive, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, also heart-shaped at the base.
They resemble the shape of willow leaves. The flowers of the plant are collected in large numbers in the vertebrae in the axils of the upper bracts. The calyx is six-leafed, fused into a tube. The corolla is composed of six red, red-purple or pink petals attached to the edge of the calyx. The fruit is cracking longitudinally in two boxes.
The ordinary swamp is distributed in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, in Europe - north to Scotland and Scandinavia, in the Balkans, Russia (European part, Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia), North and South America, Australia. In Bulgaria it is found in the bushes and along ditches, canals, small rivers, around ditches, on moist forest meadows, valleys and elsewhere throughout the country up to 1000 m above sea level. It blooms from June to autumn.
Types of swamps
In the genus Blatia there are about 35 species of flowering plants, of which only two are ornamental - the common marsh and the species litrum virgatum.
From the ordinary swamp several varieties have been created. Stichflame has purple-pink flowers and reaches 1.40 m in height. Zigeunerblu has bright dark red colors and reaches 1.20 m in height.
The species Lythrum virgatum originates from Europe. The plants reach a height of 0.5 to 1 m. It is very similar to the common marsh, but its stems and flowers are smaller. A beautiful variety of this species is Rose Queen, with pink flowers.
Another charming species is Lythrum alatum, which is a flowering, herbaceous plant of the Blatievi family. The plant is endemic to wetlands in the central and eastern United States and Ontario. Its stem is straight, branched, reaching 1 m in height. The leaves are oblong, elliptical, with serrated edges. The fruit is an elongated capsule filled with numerous small seeds. This species is colored in purple and blue - purple.
The species Lythrum californicum is also not to be neglected. Lythrum californicum is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is a perennial herbaceous plant also of the Blatievi family. The stem of the plant is straight, sometimes branched and reaches a height of 20 to 60 cm. The leaves of the plant are lanceolate, covered with a waxy coating, reaching a length of 1 to 7 cm. And in this species the fruit is an oval capsule containing numerous, small seeds. Characteristic of the species are the purple colors.
Composition of the swamp
In the composition of the ordinary swamp includes tannins 5 - 10%, mucus, pectin, a little essential oil, carotene (provitamin A), resins, a flavonoid, waxes, fatty oil, organic acids, their salts and more.
The seeds of the plant contain an alkaloid and the glucoside litrarine, the aboveground parts - the glucoside salicarin and traces of essential oil, and the flowers - flavonoids. Antibacterial activity of the herb has been established.
Growing swamps
To enjoy a beautiful and healthy flower, you need to fulfill a few simple conditions. The main requirement of plants is that the soil is very moist, rich in nutrients. If a stream passes through your place or there is a water spot, you can place the plants on the shore.
Reproduction in swamps is carried out both by seed and vegetatively. The seeds are sown in September in damp beds or in a pot, on which the substrate must always be full of water. They are covered with 0.5 cm of soil.
Once 4-5 leaves have developed, the plants can be planted in a permanent place. More often, vegetative propagation is practiced by dividing the rhizomes. Such plants bloom earlier. When ponds will be used, the rhizomes are planted first in baskets. They are placed in place, covered with 5-6 cm of water.
Collection and storage of swamps
The upper stem parts / Herba Salicariae / of the herb are used. They are harvested from July to August. During picking, the top leafy and flowering stem parts of the plant are cut off. Even during picking, the drug is cleaned of impurities accidentally found during picking.
When picking, care must be taken not to mix the herb with other species. The collected material is dried in ventilated rooms or in an oven at a temperature not exceeding 40 degrees. From about 5 - 5.5 kg fresh, 1 kg of dry upper stem parts is obtained.
Benefits of swamp
The ordinary swamp has a burning, hemostatic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effect. The plant has been used since ancient times in Balkan medicine. Dioscorides also prescribes it for hemoptysis, nosebleeds, dysentery, uterine bleeding and more. In the past, the plant has been used for fever, typhoid, liver problems. There is a claim that common swamp helps with eye problems, but they have not been proven yet.
The herb is recommended mainly for gastrointestinal colic, diarrhea, hemorrhoids. It is also used as an anti-inflammatory and hemostatic agent in gastrointestinal inflammation and pulmonary hemorrhage. Swamp gargle cures sore throat and sore throat. With an extract of the herb they removed spots and scars on the skin. It is also applied externally for bleeding wounds.
The juice of the plant is used to impregnate fishing nets - they do not rot and become durable and healthy. Also, the common marsh is an excellent honey plant. Some time ago from the flowers of some species swamp red dye was extracted and used in the production of colored candies. In addition to being useful, these plants are spectacular and delicate, so they can be successfully used for arranging gardens and flower corners.
Folk medicine with marshes
In Bulgarian folk medicine, the infusion of common marshmallow is used as an astringent and anti-inflammatory agent for diarrhea, dysentery, chronic gastric and intestinal catarrh, gastric and intestinal colic and hemorrhoids.
Prepare the decoction by pouring 2 tablespoons of finely crushed and ground drug with 500 ml of boiling water. Strain the mixture after it cools. The prepared dose is drunk for two days.
In case of bleeding wounds, an externally crushed fresh plant in the form of a paw is applied.
In Russian folk medicine ordinary swamp used for stomach pain, uterine bleeding and for bathing exhausted children.
