Fight

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

Fight / Paliurus spina-christi Mill./, also known as Jigra, Christ's thorn and Kairache, is a perennial thorny shrub of the buckthorn family. It has a strongly branched stem, reaching up to 3 m in height. Young twigs are weakly fibrous at first, and then become bare, reddish.

The leaves of the dracaena are consecutive, arranged in 2 rows on the branches, with petioles, ovate or elliptical to rounded, leathery, glabrous and shiny. The leaf stalks are up to 1 cm long, 2–4 times shorter than the petiole.

The stipules are modified into two hard, short brown thorns, one of which is longer and upright, and the other is shorter and curved. The flowers are small and yellow-green, bisexual. They are collected in axillary racemes.

The calyx and corolla have 5 leaflets each. The stamens are 5 pieces. The ovary is semi-lobed, almost completely fused with the flower bed. The fruit of the dracaena is a dry, non-cracking stone with 2-3 seeds, surrounded by a dry and membranous wing. The seeds are flattened, back ovoid, remaining closed after ripening.

The herb is found in Southern Europe, Western and Central Asia. In Bulgaria it can be seen all over the country up to 600 m above sea level. It usually grows on rocky and stony slopes, less often on sea dunes, and enters sparse oak forests. In places it forms almost clean, large plantations, displacing the more valuable tree and shrub species.

History of the fight

There are several legends about the origin of the fight. According to the Bible, when Adam and Eve sinned, God cast them out of paradise and cursed the earth on which they set foot to produce thorns and thorns. According to another legend, the crown of Christ at his crucifixion was made of branches of fight. Hence the other name of the herb - Christ's thorn.

According to an Eastern belief, there were no thorny or poisonous bushes at the creation of the world. All beings lived in harmony, and each took from nature only as much as was necessary for its existence. But evil appeared in the world, and everyone armed himself as best he could with thorns and poison, with teeth and nails, and man with a bow and arrow. We can't find out if this is how the fight happened, but its thorns are so sharp and tearing that its name is certainly deserved.

Composition of the fight

As part of the fight include rhamnoglucosides, tannins and the flavonol glycoside rutin. The leaves contain vitamin C.

Collection and storage of dragon

The fight blooms from June to September. Only the fruits / Fructus Aculeati /, which ripen from July to November, are used from the plant. They are collected when they acquire a yellow-green or yellow-brown color. They are picked with the help of gloves or burnt. They are cleaned of accidental impurities during picking, spread in layers up to 6-7 cm thick and dried in ventilated rooms, in the sun or in an oven at a temperature of up to 45 degrees. The dried fruits are brown, odorless and with a bitter taste.

Benefits of the fight

The fruits of fight are used successfully in Bulgarian medicine because they have expectorant, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory action. In whooping cough and chronic bronchitis, decoction of dracaena is an excellent remedy.

It is also used for dysentery, shortness of breath, hypertension and some skin diseases, such as rashes and eczema. Although the fruits of the bush are mainly used, the leaves are also not to be underestimated. The juice of them is used as a means of strengthening the body to clear the lungs and bladder stones.

The unripe fruits of the plant color wool or silk in a yellowish-pink or yellow-brown color. The fight used for making hedges, also for landscaping dry and stony slopes. The herb is considered a honey plant.

Folk medicine with a fight

In the past, brawl has been used to treat a number of diseases. Decoction of the drug is drunk to tighten diarrhea, against nocturnal urination, to purify the blood and colon.

The herb lowers blood pressure, and made paws from fight relieve insect bites. In some cases, brawl infusion even helps with bleeding hemorrhoids.

Decoction of the herb is prepared by 1 tbsp. dried dracaena is poured with 500 ml of boiling water, boiled for 8 - 10 minutes and filtered. Drink 1 tsp. before meals 3-4 times a day. Hot tea can be sweetened with sugar or honey.

In case of stomach disorders, the tea from the plant is drunk for three days in a row. With high blood pressure 1 tbsp. leaves are flooded with 500 ml of water, only until boiling. The decoction is allowed to cool and drunk twice in the morning on an empty stomach.

Damage from a fight

Although useful, fights can also be dangerous. In excessive doses, the herb irritates the kidneys and digestive tract. It is recommended to be used under medical supervision.