Mad Tree

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Mad tree / Daphne mezereum / is a small shrub of the wolf family. The plant is also known as Santa Claus, wolfberry, wolfberry, wild boar. The mad tree has upright or ascending, slightly branched stems, reaching 20-100 cm in height. The bark of the bush is yellowish gray.

The leaves are consecutive, collected at the top of shoots, 3-10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. The flowers are sessile or in clusters of 2-5 or in loose spike-like inflorescences. Calyx lobes ovate, rounded or slightly pointed, fibrous inside. The petals are missing.

The fruit of mad tree is a bony ovoid bright red naked, released from the hypanthium before maturation. The mad tree blooms in March and April. It grows in moist shady and stony places in deciduous and coniferous forests in the mountains. Distributed throughout the country from 600 to 2000 m above sea level. It is found throughout Europe, Asia Minor and others.

History of a mad tree

Ancient Greek legend tells how Apollo once met the beautiful Daphne and fell in love with her. But the nymph ran away, because some time ago Eros pierced her heart with an arrow, killing love and causing terrible suffering. To free his daughter from them, the river god Peleus turned her into a laurel tree. From this legend comes the genus Latin name of the plant - Daphne. The species name comes from mezeyin - "kill" because it is poisonous.

Types of mad tree

The genus Daphne has about 50 species of plants distributed in Europe, Asia and North Africa. In Bulgaria, in addition to Daphne mezereum, there are several other species.

The Strandzha mad tree / Daphne pontica /, as its name suggests, is found only in the Strandzha mountain. This plant has another popular name. The locals call it "wolf's face" because of the tough and healthy bark, so it is very difficult to tear off a branch. Despite its scary names, the Strandzha mad tree is very beautiful. It is an evergreen shrub between 50 and 100 cm.

The leaves are obovate and leathery. They are located consecutively on the tops of the branches. Its flowers are yellowish-green. They grow on annual twigs in pairs on common stalks and gathered in shortened thyroid inflorescences. The Strandzha rabid tree participates in the formation of the relict evergreen undergrowth, characteristic of the beech and sessile forests in Strandzha. It blooms in May and bears fruit from July to August.

Low raging tree / Daphne cneorum / is an evergreen shrub. Its stems are 10-40 cm long, usually recumbent, rarely ascending, branched, with gray-brown bark. The leaves are 10-18 mm long and 3-5 mm wide, oblong or linearly ovate, entire or slightly incised, obtuse, slightly narrowed at the base, sessile, dark green, glabrous, leathery.

The flowers are regular, almost sessile, 5-8 in apical-headed inflorescences on the shoots, longer than the surrounding apical leaves, with a strong pleasant aroma, with leaf-like, but smaller, dull, naked bracts. The fruit is oval, fibrous, yellow-brown. This species blooms from May to July. It is found in dry, stony and calcareous places. It is distributed in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.

Daphne blagayana is an evergreen, small shrub, up to 30 cm tall, with long branches, leafy only at the top. Its leaves are 3–6 cm long, obovate, sessile, glabrous, leathery. The flowers are creamy white, fragrant, sessile, forming bunches of 10-15 flowers at the top of the branches. The fruit is a whitish stone. The Blagaev rabid tree is pollinated by insects and propagated by seeds. It is found in Central and Southeastern Europe.

Laurel mad tree / Daphne laureola / is an evergreen shrub, its young branches are greenish, bare. Its leaves are 30–120 mm long, 10–35 mm wide, at least three times longer than wide, obovate to lanceolate, leathery, glabrous, shiny. The flowers are yellowish-green, glabrous, gathered in shortened thyroid inflorescences, on annual twigs. The laurel mad tree is widespread in Western, Central and Southern Europe, Southwest Asia (Asia Minor), North Africa (Algeria).

Composition of mad wood

Mad tree contains the coumarin glucoside daphin and a poisonous yellow-brown resin called mecercin, with an unstudied composition. The flowers contain an essential oil with a pleasant odor.

Collection and storage of rabid wood

The bark of is used for medical manipulations mad tree, which peels in February and March, when the sap flow begins in the plant. With a sharp knife make transverse incisions at a distance of about 15 cm.

It is then joined with one or two longitudinal notches, whereby the bark is easily peeled off. When collecting this herb or manipulating it, you should not touch your face, because the drug causes severe inflammation of the skin, especially the mucous membranes.

Inhalation of drug dust causes irritation of the nasal mucosa, pharynx and respiratory tract. The collected material is dried immediately in a ventilated room or in an oven at a temperature of up to 35 degrees. The treated material should be stored in a ventilated and dry place, away from other drugs.

Benefits of mad wood

Mad tree used to treat gout, discopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica and others. It also has a warming effect on muscle pain. The herb is applied externally for skin diseases and others. In the past, rabies was used for ulcers and as a cleanser, but due to its toxic nature it is not considered completely safe.

The glucosidaphnin found in the drug and the coumarin derivative called umbeliferon are of potential interest because they absorb light rays with a wavelength of 24400 - 3150 A, which are responsible for the thermal damage to the skin when irradiated with ultraviolet light.

Given that the tanning of the skin is carried out mainly by ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of 8100-4500 A, these substances can be considered as potential means of protection against sunburn in the composition of creams with protective action in sunlight. They are not currently used in this regard due to their difficult separation from mecerein, which has a strong irritant effect.

The twigs of mad tree are also used for knitting small items. The plant is also used for dyeing wool in yellow and black. Contains essential oil with a delicate scent of hyacinth, which is also used in the perfume industry.

Folk medicine with mad tree

Bulgarian folk medicine recommends the following recipe with mad tree for skin inflammation and rheumatism: Mix 4 parts bark, 10 parts lard and 1 part wax. All this is boiled and after cooling it is applied topically.

Damage from mad wood

Absorbed through the mouth, the fruits and peels of the herb are highly poisonous. Poisoning occurs with phenomena of the gastrointestinal tract such as stomach pain, colic, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, albuminuria, cylindruria, hematuria and others.

In 30% of cases of poisoning there is a fatal outcome due to cardiovascular weakness. Fatal outcome has been observed with the consumption of 10-12 fruits, but at the same time there are known cases of intoxication by ingesting 60 fruits.

In case of poisoning with mad tree the usual measures for alimentary intoxications are applied - gastric lavage, activated charcoal, as well as the administration of mucous solutions in order to reduce its irritating effect on the stomach.

The herb is poisonous to horses and sheep, which become aroused when consumed, hence its name. Sometimes only goats try the mad tree and go crazy because of its action.