Swamp Snowdrop

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

Swamp snowdrop / Leucojum aestivum / is a perennial bulbous plant of the Kokichevi family. It is also known as common marsh snowdrop, white violet, St. George's snowdrop, dormouse, frog tulip, meadow snowdrop, summer marsh snowdrop and others.

The bulb of the marsh snowdrop is short-ovate, 2-3 cm in diameter, with a grayish or brown shell of old leaves. The stem of the plant reaches 60 cm in height and is slightly flattened. The leaves of the marsh snowdrop are 4-6 swarms, linear, usually long as the stem, up to 13 mm wide, with a blunt tip.

The flowers of the plant are 3-7 pieces, relatively large, located at the top of the stem. Perianth petals are white, elliptical, with a greenish-yellow spot. The fruit box is almost spherical. The seeds of the marsh snowdrop are cylindrical and black.

The plant blooms in April and May. It is found in the low and wet long forests, as well as in the wet and periodically flooded meadows, mainly along the Danube, Maritsa, Tundzha, Kamchia and some smaller rivers flowing into the Black Sea, up to 270 m above sea level. Apart from Bulgaria, the snowdrop is widespread in Central and Southern Europe, Russia, the Balkan Peninsula and others.

Types of marsh snowdrop

The genus Leucojum includes 12 species of plants. In Bulgaria, in addition to the common marsh snowdrop / Leucojum aestivum /, there is also a spring marsh snowdrop.

The spring marsh snowdrop / Leucojum vernum / is a perennial plant of the genus Swamp snowdrop. It does not differ much from the common marsh snowdrop except that it blooms earlier in the year and reaches slightly lower sizes. It is greenish at the top of the perianth petals. It is poisonous, but also contains healing substances. This species grows near large rivers. It is less common in moist forests. In Bulgaria the spring marsh snowdrop is an endangered species (like the common snowdrop).

Composition of marsh snowdrop

The alkaloids galantamine, licorine and lycorenin were isolated from the aboveground parts of the snowdrop.

Growing marsh snowdrop

The most favorable temperature for sowing seeds of marsh snowdrop is 20 degrees. After the seeds germinate, the plant develops slowly in the first few years. The bulb obtained by seed begins to bloom after 5-6 years. The young plants remain in flower beds for 2-3 years, until the bulbs acquire the size of a hazelnut. They are then removed and transplanted to a permanent place. The plant is propagated in a vegetative way, using the newly formed bulbs around the bulb - the mother.

Swamp snowdrop not affected by low temperatures. In terms of soils, the plant prefers alluvial, alluvial-meadow and cinnamon, rich in humus and minerals. Like any perennial plant, the marsh snowdrop is planted in areas outside the crop rotation. In the same place it can last for ten years, but not more, because the bulbs thicken excessively, the nutrient area becomes insufficient and the plants weaken.

In addition, diseases can occur that will affect the productivity of the plant. Snowdrop suffers the most from the disease gray rot, which is caused by fungi of the genus Botrytis. The disease appears in late February. Initially, it is characterized by small necrotic spots on the aboveground mass.

As the leaf mass increases, the damage from the disease increases significantly. In wet weather, a grayish-white deposit forms on the infected leaves, which represents the spores of the fungus. The fight against gray rot is carried out by spraying with a combination of 0.3% ditan and 0.1% amylosan. As the procedure is repeated annually for 3-4 years.

Collection and storage of marsh snowdrop

From marsh snowdrop the above-ground part / Herba Leucoji aestivi / is used, which is collected in April and May. The entire above-ground part of the herb is cut off during flowering. The herb should not be picked from persons with wounds on the hands. After cleaning from accidental impurities during picking, the collected material is dried without delay in an oven at a temperature of up to 40 degrees, spreading in a thin layer.

Keep in mind that a quality herb can only be obtained if it dries quickly and as soon as possible after picking. In this case, it is necessary to collect as much as possible every day so that it can be dried on the same day. From 10 kg of fresh stalks 1 kg of dry ones is obtained. The collected material is stored in dry, ventilated and dark rooms, in well-prepared packaging.

Benefits of marsh snowdrop

Swamp snowdrop is a plant of great economic importance. It is used as a raw material for the extraction of the alkaloid galantamine, on the basis of which the unique Bulgarian drug Nivalin is produced, which is used in the treatment of polio, diseases of the peripheral and central nervous system, neuritis, neuralgia.

Galantamine is a major ingredient in the manufacture of other drugs (Nivalet, Nivalin, Collar, etc.) that treat a number of neurological diseases. It acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This improves the transmission of the nerve impulse and prolongs the action of the neuromuscular signal in neuritis, paresis, muscular dystrophy, polio, radiculitis. In 1987, a method for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease with the participation of galantamine was patented.

Nivalin

Dimitar Spasov Paskov is a Bulgarian pharmacologist, one of the founders of Bulgarian experimental pharmacology. In 1959, Dimitar Paskov extracted the anticholinesterase ingredient from the leaves and flowers of the snowdrop - an alkaloid called galantamine.

Isolated in its pure form, this ingredient is named Nivalin. The discovery of the properties of marsh snowdrop happened quite by accident when the doctor noticed an improvement in a girl suffering from polio, who drank without asking the water from a cup of snowdrops, which his parents left on the table next to the bed.

Nivalin increases the level of the chemical acetylcholine, which is involved in the conduction of nerve impulses in the brain and peripheral nerves. It is used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's dementia, peripheral nerve diseases associated with movement disorders, muscle weakness, progressive muscular dystrophy, polio, cerebral palsy.

The drug Nivalin was awarded the Pharmaceutical Oscar-Enio for his contribution to science. And with his original pharmacological research on galantamine (Nivalin), Prof. Dr. D. Paskov glorifies the name of Bulgaria among pharmacologists and doctors in Europe. His monograph "Nivalin" was translated and published in Italy. Together with Prof. Dr. D. Peychev he published a textbook on pharmacology, which was republished several times.

Damage from snowdrop

It is necessary to know that the use of the snowdrop for self-medication is dangerous. In addition to galantamine, it contains other highly toxic alkaloids that can cause fatal consequences. People who collect this ridge should not have injuries to their hands, because this can lead to serious consequences.