Orchid plant is helmet-bearing. Useful properties of orchid and recipes for its use in medicine. herbal medicine recipe

Orchid - perennial herbaceous plant with very decorative inflorescences and many medicinal properties. It is thanks to its benefits that the orchis was destroyed for decades and is now listed in the Red Book as an endangered plant. By growing it in your own garden, you can not only enrich the flower garden, but also take care of the preservation of rare flora. Orchis has many popular names, among them "dog tongues", "core", "blank", "cuckoo's tears", "wild orchid". It is distributed in temperate zone the entire northern hemisphere. The plant prefers cold climate, it grows on rich calcareous soils of forest edges and wet foothills.

plant description

Orchid is a herbaceous perennial from the Orchidaceae family. It is nourished by rhizomes with paired, oblong tubers, which are often compared to male testicles. Erect stems 10-50 cm long at the base are hidden by a leaf rosette. Oval or broadly lanceolate leaves sit on the shoot. The upper leaves have small petioles. Sometimes small dark spots are located at the base of the olive-green leaf plate.

In April-August, the stem elongates and turns into a bare simple peduncle with a dense spike-shaped inflorescence 7-9 cm long. Small orchid-like flowers are painted in lilac-pink or cherry color. A helmet is formed from the upper petals, and the lower ones form a three-lobed lip with a spur. The base of the lip is covered with dark dots. Flowers exude a subtle sweetish aroma with hints of vanilla and honey. A single bud blooms for 7-10 days until it is pollinated by insects. Immediately after pollen hits the ovary, the petals wither. Soon dry seed pods with very small dark seeds ripen.

Orchid species

The species diversity of orchid is quite large. Today, botanists attribute more than 60 plant species to this genus. Some species have recently migrated to the genus Neotinea and Anacamptis of the same family.

Herbaceous perennial with paired oblong tubers grows 20-50 cm in height. The base of the stem is covered with purple spots. It grows enveloping broadly lanceolate leaves that fold slightly along the longitudinal vein. The leaf length is 7-14 cm, and the width is 1.5-3.5 cm. The green surface is covered with purple or dark purple spots located closer to the base. Cylindrical spike-shaped inflorescence 6-18 cm long consists of 15-50 buds. The lilac flowers are quite small, they consist of a recurved wide oval lip with three lobes, a blunt spur and a small helmet. Flowers bloom in April-May.

It is this species that is popular with gardeners because of its high decorative properties. The plant has a palmately divided tuberous rhizome. Shoots 15-60 cm high are rather dense, erect. In the lower part they are hidden under the linear dark green foliage. The top of the stem is decorated with a very dense and short spike-shaped inflorescence of light purple or lilac color. The base of the three-lobed lip is covered with dark spots. The same spots are present at the bottom of the leaves. Inflorescences bloom at the end of May.

A light-loving plant 20-50 cm high. A leaf rosette of 4-6 broadly lanceolate leaves with a rounded edge is formed above the ground. The inflorescence looks like a short dense brush with a honey aroma. The lateral lobes of the lip are very narrow, linear. central part elongated, so outwardly the lip resembles the body of a miniature monkey, for which the species got its name.

Orchis is helmeted (helmet-shaped). A plant 20-60 cm high has large bright green leaves. oval shape. The length of the thinned down leaf plate is 8-18 cm, and the width is about 2.5 cm. In May-June, a thick spike 5-8 cm long blooms. It has a pyramidal shape. The narrow, thin lip is widely dissected into three lobes. The helmet from the upper petals is larger.

The plant is larger. The stem is 40-70 cm long and has a round section and grows up to 12 mm thick. At its base, there are 3-6 closely spaced, broadly lanceolate leaves with a pointed edge. In May-June, a spike 5-20 cm long grows. It consists of many fragrant flowers. The pink split lip contrasts with the black-purple or brown-purple helmet.

reproduction

Most orchid species are propagated by seeds. In favorable conditions, the plant gives abundant self-seeding. However, seeds can only germinate if there are special fungi in the soil. Often, when sowing at home, the land is taken from the place where wild orchid trees grow in a clearing. Seeds can be sown throughout the year. They try to evenly distribute them in a container with moist nutrient soil. The container is covered with a film and placed in a well-lit place with a temperature of + 18 ... + 24 ° C. Shoots appear slowly and unevenly. The germination process takes 1-3 months.

When the seedlings have grown a few leaves, they are carefully seated in separate pots. In order not to damage the roots, each plant is transplanted with big ball earth. Until spring, seedlings are grown in greenhouse conditions; in April-May, on sunny warm days, hardening is carried out. Orchid is planted in open ground only at the end of May, when the frosts pass. The distance between seedlings should be 10-15 cm.

The most simple is the propagation of orchis by tubers. In autumn, when the ground part of the plant fades, it is cut off. The tubers are dug up and carefully separated. They are immediately planted in new holes. At the same time, part of the land from the old place must be transferred along with the tuber.

Interestingly, the tubers grow as they separate, so this propagation method can be carried out during the summer. The first time the tuber is separated when the buds appear. It is very important to be careful not to damage the stem and rhizome. Further separation is repeated every 25-30 days. The resulting tuber is planted in a new place. Don't expect early flowering. Within 3-5 years, only a leaf rosette is formed and a rhizome develops. Only after that, with proper care, flowering occurs.

Orchid Care

Orches are resistant to weather conditions, but may suffer from more aggressive neighbors in the flower bed. Their growth requires mycorrhiza (symbiosis with special fungi in the ground). It is better to plant a plant in partial shade. Where there is bright sun in the morning and evening, and at noon there is shading.

The soil should be sufficiently moist, but not waterlogged. The earth should not be acidic, neutral or slightly acidic soil with a high content of lime and nutrients is preferable. In a severe drought with insufficient watering, the orchid can go into hibernation. The plant actively develops and blooms in the spring, and then wakes up in the fall. It needs to be watered regularly so that the soil does not dry out too much.

It is better to feed plants with organic top dressings (compost, chopped needles). They mulch the soil twice a year, in spring and autumn, to a height of 5-7 cm. It is undesirable to use mineral complexes, like fresh manure. They will promote leaf development, but flowering may not occur.

In autumn, the entire above-ground part of the orchid dies off. Only tubers with a supply of nutrients remain in the soil. Ground vegetation can be cut as soon as it begins to turn yellow. Do not wait for complete drying. Pruning will stimulate the tuber to go into hibernation.

Orchid is well adapted to wintering. AT middle lane Russia, he does not need additional shelter. A much greater danger to him is not frost, but flooding of the soil. Because of it, the tubers can rot.

Medicinal properties and contraindications

Orchid is used as medicinal plant in folk medicine. Its tubers (salepa) and flowers contain a large number of slime, essential oils, proteins, complex carbohydrates, glycosides and mineral salts. Mucous decoctions, milk jelly, alcohol tinctures and oil infusions are made from harvested flowers and roots.

The funds received help to get rid of the following diseases:

• cough;
• inflammation of the larynx;
• diarrhea;
• alcohol intoxication;
• vomit;
• cystitis;
• inflammation of the appendages.

Orchid products are very popular among men. They are treated with sexual disorders, prostatitis, adenoma, male impotence.

Use in the garden

Orches are rarely planted in a mixed flower bed. They look best in solo group plantings in the middle of a lawn, rocky masonry or near coniferous plants and ferns. Sometimes a wild orchid can be found on an alpine hill. With its help, you can add variety to a wild corner of a flower garden or a monochrome garden.

Helmet-shaped orchis, or helmet-shaped orchis (lat. Orchis militaris)- a herbaceous perennial plant, which is a type species for plants of the genus Orchis (lat. Orchis), belonging to the Orchid family (lat. Orchidaceae). All the main elements according to which botanists select plants, wishing to classify them as belonging to this genus, are reflected in the helmet-shaped Orchid. These are broadly lanceolate leaves, compact and dense spike-shaped inflorescences, consisting of miniature picturesque orchid flowers, and two underground tubers, which are the guarantor of perennial plants of the genus.

What's in your name

The helmet-shaped orchis owes its warlike appearance to the appearance of its roots and tops. Latin name Orchis militaris. The genus name "Orchis" is peaceful in nature and is based on the underground part of the plant, which, in addition to the usual belt-like roots, has two tubers that wished to take the universal form of an egg. The Latin word "Orchis" is derived from the ancient Greek word, the meaning of which is translated by the word "testicle". This is such a complex lineage.

The specific Latin epithet "militaris" literally translates as "military". Since botanists awarded the plant with such an epithet for the structure of a flower, one of the petals of which looks like a protective knight's helmet, in the Russian version of the plant's name the epithet acquired the sound "helmet-like" or "helmet-bearing".

The name of the plant, of course, has several synonyms. For example, one of them is "Orchis tephrosanthos var. Militaris" assigned to the plant by Carl Linnaeus, who was the first to describe this plant.

Description

A slightly branched network of thin roots and two tubers-testicles stand guard over the longevity of the Orchidus helmet. While one tuber feeds the plant with its supply of nutrients, the second tuber accumulates the same supply for the next year's plant. Such is the cycle of life of the Orchidus helmet.

From the nutritious tuber, a grassy stem comes to the surface, surrounded by sheath broadly lanceolate leaves with a blunt end and a network of distinct longitudinal veins on the surface of the green leaf plate. The number of leaves can be from three to five with a length of eight to eighteen centimeters. At the same time, the height of the whole plant varies from fifteen to forty-sixty centimeters.

Spike-shaped dense inflorescence, typical for plants of the Orchid genus, is born in the upper part of a strong stem. The inflorescence is composed of pinkish-purple bracts and traditional funny orchid flowers that can be colored in pink, light purple, purple, brownish-purple. The helmet, in honor of which the plant received a specific epithet, is formed by the fusion of five perianth lobes. The deeply tripartite lip of the flower is equipped with a blunt, narrow-cylindrical spur and divides into two oval lobes at the apex. In a shallow recess between the blades, a tiny awl-shaped tooth stuck. On the whitish surface of the middle part of the lip, fabulous elves left their purple traces. Very often, the lip looks like a funny miniature male man.

The crown of the growing cycle is a fruit box filled with small seeds.

Uses and healing abilities

The picturesque helmet-shaped orchid winters beautifully in the conditions of the Moscow region, keeping up with summer period not only to please gardeners with its bright flowering, but even to donate seeds. In order for the plant to develop comfortably, the soil must be loose, not provoking stagnant water.

Although the flowers of Orchis helmeted nature supplied with nectaries, they have no nectar, and therefore the plant is of no interest to bees.

The tubers of the orchid are rich in sugars, starch, mucous substances, and therefore attract the interest of traditional healers who use dried tubers to prepare medicinal potions.

Like chemical composition tubers determines their ability to alleviate cough, help the work of the human digestive organs, calm toothache to stimulate work nervous system strengthen hair...

Orchis militaris L.

Orchid family - Orchidaceae

Short description. Perennial herbaceous plant 20-45 cm tall, with two large ovoid tubers, one of which is old, the other young. The stem is straight, with 3-5 shiny lanceolate large leaves located at the bottom. Inflorescence - brush 4-10 cm long, many-flowered. The flowers are fragrant, whitish-pinkish-purple or greyish-violet. The tepals, with the exception of the lower one, are turned upwards, brought together and form a helmet. The lower tepal bears a curved spur 5-6 mm long and a long lip.

Features of ecology, biology and phytocenology. Grows in wet meadows lowland swamps, forest edges, in light forests, as a rule, near rivers and small forest lakes. Propagated by tubers. Seed propagation in nature is apparently extremely rare, since seeds germinate only in soils inhabited by specific species of symbiote fungi. In addition, the seeds are not tied annually. The population size fluctuates from year to year depending on external conditions. It grows well and blooms on alkaline loamy-humus soils, but after a few years it falls out of the herbage. Suffering from acidification of the soil. Blooms in June - early July.

Spreading. In the Irkutsk region, it occurs quite often, but in small populations. Recorded in Angarsky, Slyudyansky, Shelekhovsky, Olkhonsky, Osinsky, Bayandaevsky, Ziminsky, Bratsky, Kachugsky, Zhigalovsky, Kazachinsko-Lensky, Tulunsky, Taishetsky districts, in the vicinity of Irkutsk and Angarsk. Most of range in Russian Federation stretches in a narrow strip from the western border to Transbaikalia inclusive. In Transbaikalia, the species is located on the eastern border of its range. Eurasian look. Outside of Russia, it is distributed in the forest regions of Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia and Mongolia.

Number and condition of populations. There is no data. limiting factors. Grazing, haymaking, land reclamation. The reduction of forests. Preparation of tubers as salep, collection of plants for bouquets. Low phytocenotic activity.

Accepted and necessary measures protection. Protected in the territories of the Pribaikalsky national park, Baikal-Lena Reserve, within the botanical natural monument "Waternut on Lake Solonetsky" (Taishetsky district). Included in the Red Books of the Russian Federation, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Republics of Buryatia, Tuva, Khakassia, Sakha (Yakutia), Chita region and Aginsky Buryat avt. env. . In order to preserve the gene pool of this species in nature, the collection of plants as medicinal raw materials and for bouquets should be prohibited. Due to the contradictory results of cultivation, it is necessary to continue studying the biology of the species under culture conditions.

Information sources: 1 - Amelchenko, Ignatenko, 1986; 2 - Vakhrameeva et al., 1991; 3 - Synopsis of the flora of Irkutsk ..., 2008; 4 - Synopsis of the vascular flora ..., 2005; 5 - Lyakhova, Kosovich-Anderson, 2008; b - Red Book of the Russian ..., 2008; 7 - Red Book of Krasnoyarsk..., 2005; 8 - Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia, 2002; 9 - Red Book of the Republic of Tyva, 1999; 10 - Red Book of the Republic of Khakassia, 2002; 11 - Red Data Book of the Republic of Sakha..., 2000; 12 - Red Data Book of Chita..., 2002.

Compiler: I.G. Lyakhova.

Artist: N.V. Stepantsov.

HATHRISH

Orchis slam-bearing or salep - perennial

herbaceous plant with two well-developed whole, ovoid tubers.

Stem straight, simple. 20-40 cm tall, at the bottom

parts are shrouded in two membranous sheaths. Leaves 3-5, sessile, concentrated in the lower half of the stem. The leaves are elliptical, 25-50 cm wide and 8-18 cm long.

Inflorescence many-flowered, dense, 4-10 cm long. Flowers

whitish pink. Outer tepals

fused at base, 9-13 mm long. Lip

whitish at base, with purple flecks

and the smallest papillae. Spur 5-6 mm long, two

times shorter than the ovary, narrow-cylindrical.

Blooms in May-June. Breeds predominantly

seeds. Distributed in Europe, Asia Minor, Iran,

Mongolia and Northwest China. In Russia - within

a narrow strip stretching from St. Petersburg

region and the Baltic to the south Eastern Siberia

(Chita region), as well as in the Caucasus.

Grows on damp and dry, mostly floodplain

meadows, clearings, in light forests, in some places confined to soils,

rich in calcium.

For therapeutic purposes, young, fresh and especially dried root tubers are used, harvested at the end of flowering.

plants.

AT Ancient Russia believed that orchid tubers are salep

(from the Arabic name of the tuber "Salab") have love

charms and prepared from them a bewitching potion. In Persia, it was advised to store tubers as food reserves for a while

crop failure or war. In the Middle East they were given

sick for recuperation. Tatars of the Great Horde

took tubers with them on the road.

ethnoscience uses powder from tubers when

diarrhea, dysentery, colitis and enterocolitis, cystitis,

food and other poisoning when for treatment

inflamed mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract

a path the enveloping slime is necessary. For diarrhea for

to increase the effect, enemas are made from a powder solution with the addition of a tenth of flaxseed.

Salep is quite effective for maintaining strength during

senile exhaustion, tuberculosis, weakening after

bleeding or wasting disease. In the countries of the East

soups, jellies, drinks are prepared from them, dough is made.

Dried tubers are harvested for future use for distant

transitions.

Orchis tubers should be stored in a dry, well

ventilated rooms. Dampness spoils them

and lose their qualities.

Methods of preparation and use: 1. 3-10 g of mashed