bittersweet - a very common plant.It belongs to the family Solanaceae.The name of this shrub was due to taste berries.If they get to the core, they are sweet, but then comes the bitter aftertaste.This plant, like most of the Solanaceae, poisonous.But it also has strong healing properties.Since ancient times people used the young stems and leaves for the preparation of ointments and tinctures.These tools help in the treatment of many diseases.
Description
bittersweet - a perennial shrub.It can reach a height of 180 cm. Rhizome woody, creeping.The stems of the plants and the long winding.Young shoots are branched and climbing.The trunk at the bottom of dwarf shrubs and woody naked.
leaves of the plant next.Shape oblong-ovate.Leaf length - from 2.5 to 12 cm, width - 1 cm. At the base of two distinguishable oblong small proportion.The leaves of this plant part may also have a heart-shape.At the top, they dissected or tripartite.Young leaves have a specific unpleasant smell.
The plant paniculate inflorescences.At the base, forked, located on long stalks.Lobes.Form is correct, double perianth.Calyx saucer-shaped flowers.It's small, pyatizubchatym.Five stamens.Their narrow anthers, fused into a tube around the column, have a conical shape.A pestle.Corolla gamopetalous.The color purple petals.There are species with white or pink corolla.The diameter of the flower is 12-18 mm.Corolla wheel-is visible pyatirassechenny fold limb.The ovary forms the top.
Flowers bittersweet appear in spring.But the plant blooms throughout the warm season until August.Fruit - berry.First, it has a green color.As ripening yellow and then becomes a bright red color.This attractive shiny Vistula berry grows up to a length of 3 cm.
Distribution
bittersweet distributed throughout the subtropical and temperate zones of Europe.But this plant has committed a lot of travel.Now it grows in Asia and North America, where it was brought settlers from the Old World.
In Russia, this plant is easy to find throughout the entire European part of the country.He is not only in the Lower Volga region, as well as in Eastern and Western Siberia.It does not grow bittersweet and Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.In Asia, it also does not occur.
This plant likes moist and even a little waterlogged soil.It grows in floodplains.It is found near the damp thickets of various shrubs and willow.The usual habitat of this species growing nightshade - the banks of lakes, ponds, rivers, swamps.In addition, his favorite place is damp piles of garbage, which a lot of in almost all areas and regions of Central Russia.Direct sunlight plant does not tolerate, he needed shade.
chemical composition of plants
bittersweet - a poisonous plant.For a man, it is extremely dangerous.Its berries, besides the usual carotenoids also exhibit such as the izofukosterin steroids, stigmasterol, sitosterol, brassicasterol, campesterol.These substances are contained in the roots.Besides them there and identify alkaloids.The ground parts of the plant, stalks and leaves exhibit tigonenin.
no less rich in steroids and alkaloids seeds.Their structure also includes phospholipids and higher fatty acids - palmitic, myristic and lauric.
Using plants
Nightshade - berries are poisonous.But she has found useful and medicinal properties.In addition, this plant is used as the insecticidal activity of the human material.
Nightshade sweet-sour known landscape designers as an ornamental shrub.It is used for registration of hedges.This is a great plant to hide unsightly fence or wall dilapidated buildings.This type is popular because the flowering period in his long and after it decorate the garden beautiful oval berries.The most common nightshade used for vertical landscaping area with a strong soil moisture.
Since ancient times, people knew this plant as a remedy for the larvae and caterpillars malicious.Prepare a decoction of stems and sprinkle them trees and bushes.The leaves contain tannins, used for tanning hides.
use of traditional medicine
Few people know how useful plant nightshade.Home decoction of the young shoots and leaves - an effective remedy for skin diseases.It compresses relieve inflammation and itching.This is the best folk remedy for eczema.Inside are infusions for colds, diarrhea.Nightshade treat inflammation of the bladder.Women prepare a decoction of the leaves, to normalize the menstrual cycle.
This plant - not only wound healing, but also anthelmintic.The leaves are used in dropsy, whooping cough, hepatitis A. The ointment made on the basis of young shoots are used externally for rheumatism.Poisonous berries in small concentrations effective even when sexually transmitted diseases.Decoction of them treat epilepsy and severe migraine attacks.The Spa is also a tincture of the flowers.It allowed people to drink with lung diseases.Use the essence of the young shoots of homeopathy in acute respiratory disease, urticaria and seizures.
plant Nightshade - poison.Use should be only under strict medical supervision.This plant contains a number of chemicals that can cause serious injury.For example, dulkamarin has similar effects with atropine.There are many cases of poisoning of farm animals.Cows observed incoordination, palpitations and diarrhea.
collection and storage of leaves and stems of nightshade
Herbaceous shoots stems and leaves should be collected during flowering.Then, the collected material is spread on a mesh and dried in the shade.In the sun shoots stand is not recommended.Stored herbaceous stems in paper bags or wooden boxes.They need to be kept separate from the rest of the herbs.Sweet and sour nightshade (photos which you can see in this article) is poisonous, so keep it out of the reach of children and pets.
