Meadow core (field cardamion, white flower, field mustard, meadow, gourd, cuckoo, key cress, meadow, smolny, smolyanka, undergrowth, marsh watercress) is a perennial herbaceous plant, a species of the genus core of the cabbage family. core l

The meadow core plant belongs to perennial herbs from the cabbage family. In the common people, it is called gourd, white-flowered, smolyanka, undergrowth, marsh watercress. The plant is common on the Eurasian continent. In many areas, it has a different name - field mustard.

Most often, this grass can be found in Europe and in the eastern regions of Asia. In Russia, it grows throughout the central part, preferring a temperate climate and moist soils. A flower with purple flowers adorns the banks of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. A bare-standing straight stalk of grass in height can reach from 30 to 80 cm. The flowering period falls on August. The inflorescences of the plant can have a different color - from white to purple.

The chemical composition of the meadow core

The chemical constituents of the plant are used by herbalists and herbalists as medicine with many diseases. And cooks add it to salads, soups, vinaigrettes. Its aerial part is rich in such elements:

vitamin C;
thioglycosides;
flavonoids;
kaempferol glycosides;
quercetin.

The seeds are filled with fatty oils (22-36%), amino acids and minerals. Despite the list positive qualities, official pharmacology does not use the plant. But in folk medicine, the herb has found its application.

Seven beneficial properties of the plant

Grass meadow core has a number of useful properties, so it is used:

To improve immunity. plant, having high content ascorbic acid (vitamin C), has a tonic effect on the human body, eliminating the degenerative mutation of its cells. Herbal infusions enhance immune forces. Increases the body's ability to resist different kind viral and bacterial infections.
How to help digestion. The plant improves the functioning of the digestive tract, eliminates increased gas formation, bloating. Herbal extracts stimulate digestive processes relieve spasms and constipation.
For diseases respiratory tract. warm tea with the addition of a pinch of a dry plant, it will have an antispasmodic and expectorant effect, helping to ease breathing during the season of colds.
To improve kidney function. Meadow heart in the form of infusions has a diuretic effect. This quality helps to remove toxins and fats from the body, normalizing metabolic processes and protecting it from aging.
To strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Controlling the level of cholesterol in the blood can reduce the likelihood of developing diseases such as stroke and heart attack. Plant extracts, strengthening the walls blood vessels prevent the formation of harmful deposits on them.
As a prevention of blood diseases. Field mustard in folk medicine is considered a herb that can purify the composition of the blood, improving blood formation. No wonder it is called the meadow heart.
To improve metabolism. Herbal tinctures are used for signs of scurvy. Availability in chemical composition plants of vitamin B9 makes it possible to use it as a means of preventing the manifestation of anemia, restoring the body's strength and resistance to microbes and bacteria.

Contraindications

Despite the list positive properties, the meadow core has certain contraindications:

Individual intolerance to plant components.
It is not recommended to take the grass for pregnant, lactating women.
For people suffering from exacerbation of diseases of the stomach, liver and kidneys, grass can be harmful.

Interesting facts about the plant

Firstly, there are more than 100 species of this plant on earth. Secondly, back in the 18th century, the meadow core, due to its properties, began to be used traditional healers for treatment various ailments. Thirdly, pre-dried raw herbs can be stored for a year, preparing tinctures from it. But it is important to remember: drying is best done in a shady area, and direct sunlight should not fall on the plant.

In the old days, girls believed that the meadow core helps in love. They collected flowers in bouquets and decorated their houses with them. Nowadays, dried buds are used to treat epilepsy attacks in children. And gardeners and gardeners cultivate the plant, using its leaves as a substitute for pepper in canning. At the same time, beekeepers and beekeepers value flowering grass as a honey plant. The plant is used in agriculture: it goes to feed cattle. Not suitable only for horse feed. By the way, there is interesting sign: if the flowers of the grass drooped, it means that it will rain soon.

Meadow core: description and photo of grass

The plant is found in those parts of Europe, North America, East Asia that have a temperate climate. The distribution area in Russia is the middle lane, Siberia, the Far East. The meadow heart loves moisture very much, so it can be found on the banks of rivers, lakes, swamps and in meadows that are covered with water during the spring flood.

Description of the meadow core

The plant blooms in late May - the first decade of June. The flowers are collected in inflorescences of 5-15 flowers. The color of the flowers, which can be found in nature or in the photo of the meadow core, is varied - from pale white to light purple.

Source: Depositphotos

Delicate heartwood flowers bloom in late spring

After flowering, in July, instead of flowers, fruits are formed - pods that ripen and open very quickly, scattering seeds everywhere. The stem of the plant is erect, from 20 to 70 cm high. The oval leaves are attached to the petioles.

Application in folk medicine and ornamental gardening

The aerial part of the plant contains vitamin C, flavonoids and glycosides. Flavonoids - biologically active substances, which have an antioxidant effect, protect the human body from aging and the appearance of neoplasms. It is known that bitterness glycosides, which contains the herb meadow core, cause appetite and improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that promotes healing and recovery after illnesses.

In traditional medicine recipes, the plant is used alone or in compound mixtures as:

choleretic agent;
diuretic;
medicines for scurvy;
anticonvulsant substances;
blood cleansers;
tinctures to improve digestion.

The meadow heart is not a very well-known plant and is not widely used in traditional medicine recipes. For medicinal purposes, raw materials are collected during the flowering period, dried in shaded, well-ventilated places.

The plant is more familiar as an edible plant. Its young leaves have a pleasant bitter taste that stimulates the appetite. They can be added to spring salads, soups.

AT landscape design are used decorative types meadow core for decorating the shores of artificial reservoirs and shaded areas of the garden.

The plant goes well with ferns, lily of the valley, marigold, hosta.

The undeservedly forgotten meadow heart is better known as a plant eaten. However, it can be used to improve health in serious illnesses. Gardeners use the plant in landscape design, often unaware of its beneficial properties.

Meadow core (field core) - cabbage family, popular names are field mustard, white flower, meadow, field cardamion, gourd, cuckoo, key cress, meadow, smolyanka, smolny, undergrowth, core, marsh watercress.

Meadow heartwood - herbaceous perennial with a small rhizome up to 15-40 cm tall. The stem of the plant is erect, slightly branched or simple in the upper part.

Leaves of the core with 4-10 pairs of leaflets, basal leaves of the core in the form of a rosette with long petioles, with rounded leaflets, stem-short-petiolate with linear-oblong leaflets, the uppermost leaves of the core with 2-3 pairs of linear leaflets. The flowers are collected in a 10-20 flower raceme, which is corymbose in shape at the beginning of flowering, and then it stretches. Petals are purple or white with purple veins up to 10-12 mm long.

The fruits of the plant are linear, straight, multi-seeded pods up to 4 cm long on obliquely deflected pedicels. Seeds up to 1.5 mm long and about 1 mm in diameter are oblong-oval, brownish or dark yellow.

The meadow core plant blooms in spring or early summer. The meadow core is distributed throughout the European part of Russia, in Belarus, in Ukraine, in Eastern and Western Siberia as well as in the Far East. The meadow core plant prefers grassy swamps, wet meadows, banks of reservoirs and rivers.

FROM therapeutic purpose tops of stems with flowers are used.

The active ingredients of the plant

The herb core and its roots contain the glycoside glucocholearin, which contains sulfur. The core flowers contain myrosin and gluconasturcin. grass core contains a large number of ascorbic acid, as well as thioglycosides and flavonoids: quercetin, kaempferol and their glycosides. Core seeds contain 22 to 36% fatty oil, in its composition up to 10% amino acids.

Useful properties and application

Meadow heart has anti-inflammatory, diuretic, antiscorbutic, sedative, choleretic, anticonvulsant and antihelminthic properties.

decoction of herbs folk medicine recommended for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and pneumonia, as a diaphoretic and stimulant, and an infusion of flowers (flowering tops) for skin diseases and rheumatism, as a choleretic and antihelminthic. A decoction of the seeds is used as a diuretic. water infusion flowers are used for nervous diseases accompanied by convulsions, hysterical seizures, and is also used for epilepsy.

Collection and preparation of grass

It is necessary to harvest the meadow core (field core), like most herbs, at the beginning of flowering. Bunches of grass are dried in the shade in a draft.

Methods of preparation and use:

pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 tbsp. l. meadow core and insist 2 hours, then strain through three layers of gauze. Take 1/4 cup 4 times a day. In diseases of the gallbladder, liver, kidneys, scurvy, Bladder, hysteria, hypovitaminosis, nervous diseases with convulsions.

pour 1 tbsp. l. heart flowers 1 cup boiling water and leave for 30 or 40 minutes, then strain. Take 2 tablespoons before meals 3 times a day for asthma, gallbladder and liver disease, kidney disease, eczema, rheumatism, ascariasis.

decoction of herbs - brew 1 cup of boiling water 15 g of raw materials and boil over low heat for 10 minutes, then strain and take 100 ml for tracheitis, bronchitis, colds and pneumonia.

Meadow core contraindications

Excessive use of fresh grass and overdose when brewing tea should be avoided, otherwise irritation in the kidneys and stomach is possible.

is one of the plants of the family called cabbage or cruciferous, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Cardamine pratensis L. As for the name of the meadow core family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Brassicaceae Burnett. (Cruciferae Juss.).

Description of the meadow core

Meadow heart is known by many folk names: field mustard, field cardamion, key cress, marsh watercress, gourd, white flower, undergrowth and smolyanka. The meadow heart is a perennial plant, endowed with a rather short rhizome, the height of which will fluctuate between fifteen and forty centimeters. The stem of such a plant is erect, it can be either simple or slightly branched in the upper part. The leaves of the meadow core will be pinnate and endowed with four to ten pairs of leaflets. The basal leaves of this in the form of a rosette will be endowed with long petioles and rounded leaves. At the same time, the stem leaves of the meadow core are short-petioled and they are endowed with linear-oblong leaflets, and the uppermost leaves are endowed with two or three pairs of linear leaflets. The flowers of this plant are collected in about ten to twenty flowered brush, at the very beginning of flowering such a brush will be corymbose, and over time it will stretch. petals white color endowed with purple veins, and their length will be equal to ten to twelve millimeters. The stamens of the meadow core are endowed, in turn, with yellow anthers. the fruits of this plant are multi-seeded straight and linear pods that are on oblique pedicels, and the length of such pods can reach four centimeters. The seeds of this plant are oblong-oval in shape, their diameter will be about one millimeter, and the length will be equal to one and a half millimeters. The seeds of the meadow core are stained in brownish or dark yellow tones.
The flowering of this plant is spring period time and early summer. AT natural conditions the meadow core is found in the Far East, the mountains of Africa in Ethiopia, North America, the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, Belarus, Western and Eastern Siberia. For growth, this plant prefers grassy swamps, wet meadows, banks of reservoirs and rivers.

Description of the medicinal properties of the meadow core

The meadow heart is endowed with very valuable healing properties, while for medicinal purposes it is recommended to use the tops of the stems of this plant along with flowers.
The presence of such valuable healing properties it is recommended to explain the content of the glycoside glucocochlearin in the composition of the roots and grass of this plant, which in turn contains sulfur. The flowers also contain myrosin and gluconasturtium, and the grass contains ascorbic acid. In addition, myronic acid was found in the seeds of the meadow heart, and a glycoside was found in the roots and grass.
The meadow core is endowed with a very effective antihelminthic, diuretic, antiscorbutic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, anticonvulsant and choleretic effect.
As for traditional medicine, this plant has become quite widespread here. A decoction prepared on the basis of the herb of the meadow core is indicated for use as a diaphoretic and stimulant, and is also used for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and pneumonia. An infusion based on flowers and flowering tops of the meadow core is used as a choleretic and antihelminthic agent, and besides this healing remedy It is effective in various skin diseases and rheumatism.

Cruciferous family - Brassicaceae.

Folk names: cuckoo flower, meadow lettuce, wild lettuce, white flower, field mustard, meadow gourd, field cardamion, cuckoo, key cress, meadow, smolny, smolyanka, undergrowth, marsh watercress.

Used parts: aerial part (fresh and dry).

Pharmacy name: grass of the meadow core - Cardaminis pratensis herba.

Botanical description. Meadow heartwood is known to many people, because in spring it decorates meadows and is often collected in bouquets (though short-lived). It is a perennial plant 20-30 cm tall. The stem is erect, usually with a brownish tint, hollow, rounded, juicy, hairless. Long-leaved basal leaves unpaired pinnate; their leaves - with long petioles, ovoid or rounded. Stem leaves are pinnately dissected, few of them. Flowers 8-20, they are collected in the apical brush. The flowers are light purple, rarely white or purple. Distinct dark veins are conspicuous on the petals. Sometimes a spit-like foam is visible on the stems. It is inhabited by the larvae of penny cicadas. Blooms from April to May (June). Found in wet meadows, sometimes in gardens. Distributed throughout Eurasia (except for deserts and tropics), in North America, in the mountains of Africa (Ethiopia), in the European part of Russia, in Ukraine, in Belarus, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East.

Collection and preparation. Regardless of how you want to use the plant, it should be harvested at the beginning of flowering. Bunches of grass are dried in the shade.

active substances. glycosides mustard oil, bitterness, vitamin C.

Healing action and application. Meadow heart has diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antiscorbutic, choleretic, sedative, anticonvulsant and antihelminthic effects. A decoction of the herb is recommended by folk medicine for pneumonia and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, as a stimulant and diaphoretic, and an infusion of flowers or flowering tops for rheumatism and skin diseases, as an antihelminthic and cholagogue. A decoction of the seeds is used as a diuretic. An aqueous infusion of flowers is used for epilepsy and nervous diseases, accompanied by convulsions and hysterical seizures. Like watercress, it is used for non-specific stimulating therapy (spring course), usually in the form of salads. Differences between the meadow heart, watercress and bitter heart since ancient times and the Middle Ages, as a rule, do not make. Scientific medicine today does not object to the use of the core as a blood cleanser, since it has been found that mustard oil glycosides have a beneficial stimulating effect on the liver and kidneys. It should be noted, however, that the use of the core in diabetes seems doubtful, despite the indications of N. Schulz in his book "Action and application medicinal plants" (1929).

Application in folk medicine. Not only in the countryside, where the experience of grandmothers still means something, but also on the recommendations of modern nutritional scientists, many now enjoy the life-giving effect of spring herbal salads. In addition to dandelion and sorrel, watercress and heartwood occupy a special place. They can be tasty cooked according to old or new recipes, they stimulate the activity of the glands in the body, which undoubtedly improves well-being.

Spring treatment: pour 0.5 l of milk into a mixer, cut one apple with skin (without core), squeeze the juice of one lemon and three oranges, and add 20 g each fresh leaves dandelion, meadow heart and watercress, then beat it all with a mixer. The resulting drink is slightly bitter, refreshing and toning. And with a tablespoon of honey, it will completely replace your whole breakfast or dinner.

The crushed leaves are used instead of pepper as a bitter seasoning. Leaves can be salted, pickled. In the spring, in many countries, the leaves of the meadow heart are used in the form of salads, vinaigrettes, instead of pepper, salted, marinated, used for soups. applied essential oil from grass and fresh grass in the treatment of scurvy. Juice was used in France in the Middle Ages for tumors. In the Far East, a decoction of the herb is used for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, venereal diseases, for diabetes, for rinsing with toothache. The infusion of the tops of the stems with flowers has diuretic, choleretic, anticonvulsant properties, and is used for ascites, jaundice, helminthiases, and hysteria. People sometimes drank tea from the heartwood against ailments of a rheumatic nature, as well as for pain accompanied by convulsions.

Methods of preparation and application.

1 tablespoon of the meadow core for 1 cup of boiling water, leave for 2 hours, strain. Take 1/4 cup 4 times a day.
1 tablespoon of meadow heart flowers per 1 cup of boiling water, leave for 30-40 minutes, strain. Take 2 tablespoons 3 times a day before meals.
Heartwood herb tea: Pour 2 teaspoons with the top of the herb into 1/4 liter of boiling water, let it brew for 5-10 minutes, then strain. Against rheumatic and other pains, traditional medicine recommends drinking in small sips a cup of warm enough tea 2-3 times a day.

Side effects. Excessive use of fresh herbs, as well as overdose when brewing tea, should be avoided, otherwise irritation in the stomach and kidneys is possible. A fresh plant containing a glycoside that splits off essential oil has a sharp, bitter taste and is therefore rarely and reluctantly eaten by livestock. It is considered poisonous to horses, because when they eat the meadow core, rheumatic inflammation of the hooves occurs. In hay, the poisonous properties of the plant disappear.