Many representatives of the flora of our planet are beneficial to humans. Some are used as medicines in traditional or official medicine, cosmetology, others - in food production, agriculture. Limiting the scope of use is difficult.
There are about 150 species of medicinal plants in the Orenburg region. They are used as effective therapeutic or prophylactic agents in the medical, folk and veterinary fields.
The most common type of plants in the Orenburg region are honey plants. Such representatives of the flora are more than 30% of all herbs and shrubs. Below are medicinal plants of the Orenburg region with names and descriptions.
Cat-and-stepmother (King Potion, Rannik)
One of the medicinal plants of the Orenburg region (pictured). Honey-bearing, perennial, grows in the form of grass. The flowers of the rannik are rich to pale yellow in color with a pronounced smell of honey. The roots scatter sprouts with red scales that cling to the ground, produce multiple leaves of two types: the upper ones are cool, dark green,the lower ones are white, soft, velvety.
Leaves, flowers and roots are used as an expectorant, disinfectant, diaphoretic, astringent. Parts of the plant are dried or taken fresh.
The king-potion has vitamins (C, group B, PP), glycosides and phytosterols. Forms of use - drinking, powders, mustard plasters, compresses. Assign for cough, inflammation of the respiratory tract and digestive tract. With purulent abscesses, coltsfoot compresses are applied.
Chicory (yellowberry, shcherbak)
In ancient times, chicory was spoken of as a magical herb. It was believed that by taking a yellowberry sprout with him on a campaign, a warrior protected himself from death. Chicory is a herbaceous perennial. The stem is tall, thin and stiff, symmetrically covered with blue to purple flowers.
In the food industry and pharmacies, you can buy a powder of the same name. It is used to make a drink that tastes like coffee. But unlike the latter, chicory has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, eliminates insomnia, and improves immunity.
For problems with digestion, cardiovascular system, liver and kidneys, shcherbak allows you to non-aggressively clean the internal organs.
Honey-bearing species
Contain a high percentage of nutrients. With their systematic preventive use, the immune system is strengthened. Traditional and official medicine recommends using raspberries, yellow and white sweet clover, willow, linden, mouse peas (leaves, branches, fruits) for this purpose.
Within the Orenburgof the area grows about a hundred species of fruit and berry representatives of the flora, up to 30% of them are classified as medicinal.
Blackberry (Ozhina)
Medicinal plant of the Orenburg region. According to the description, it is a shrub with thorns and dark purple berries from drupes. With age, the stems become very rigid, the plant has developed branched roots. Blackberry leaves grow from one point in 4-5 pieces, in the center there is a thorn.
The species is valuable for humans not only as a medicine actively used in folk preventive practice, but also as a plant with high taste properties (sweet and sour). It occurs naturally in wild and cultivated forms. Branches, leaves and fruits are used for treatment.
Contains tannins and vitamins (high concentration of C, E, PP), so all blackberry elements have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, astringent, healing effects. In folk medicine, the remedy is used as a natural immunomodulator.
Strawberry
This fruit and berry plant grows up to 20 cm in height, has short brown roots. The stem is covered with numerous soft leaves, grassy hairs. The fruit is called a berry, but in fact it is an overgrown rich red receptacle. This wild representative of the flora has been cultivated and modified. In the natural environment, it is found in forests and glades in the form of thickets intertwined with each other.
Strawberries contain useful substances (essential lubricant, magnesium, iron, phosphorus) and vitamins (groups B, C).
For treatment and prevention at home use strawberries, dried or fresh. The plant normalizes digestion, restores the functioning of the intestines, urinary system, and kidneys. It has general strengthening properties, therefore it is prescribed for low hemoglobin.
Leaves are rarely used in medical practice. This is an alternative remedy for eliminating uterine bleeding, treating asthma, and reducing pressure. If you have these he alth problems, you should consult a doctor.
Steppe cherry
Called a low-growing perennial shrub, it reaches a height of 2.5 m, sometimes 3 m. The branches become stiff by the second year of life. Cherry leaves have an elongated oval shape, corrugated, dark green hue. The fruits are richly burgundy, inside the stone, the size is up to 1 cm in diameter. This is an abundantly fruiting plant, wild and cultivated.
The healing properties of cherries are due to the presence of vitamins B1-B9, C, he althy sugars, copper, iodine, sodium in fruits, branches, leaves.
This representative of the flora is used to support immunity, therefore, when symptoms of a cold appear, it is recommended to eat cherry berries. The tool helps with diseases of the lungs, kidneys. With poor blood clotting, traditional medicine advises drinking fruit juice, exposure to coumarin helps to avoid complications of atherosclerosis. Regular consumption of cherries reduces the risk of developing gout.
Decoction of branches helps to cope with diarrhea, chronic bowel problems, relieves swelling. Alternativemedicine suggests using the leaves of the shrub to treat jaundice of all types.
Bean family
Presented in the Orenburg region as medicinal and decorative flowers and herbs. The former include licorice, alfalfa, kopechnik.
Licorice (licorice, licorice)
A wild-growing perennial plant, the use of which is recorded in Sumerian monuments. In antiquity, it was used as a means to give longevity.
It reaches a height of 2 m. Licorice has a developed vertical root system, complex paired leaves (about 7 pairs) arranged alternately.
The shape of the leaves is elongated-oval. The back side is sticky. Peduncles of licorice are long, with soft purple flowers. It bears fruit with brown beans, the size of which is about 2.5 cm, they contain 5-6 seeds. Fruit ripening occurs at the beginning of September.
The healing properties of licorice are due to the presence of grizzyrrhizin and saponins. It acts on the secrets and ciliated epithelium of the bronchi and trachea, providing an expectorant effect. Therefore, medicines based on licorice are prescribed in the treatment of cough, especially in children and the elderly. Licorice is also used as an antispasmodic in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory system.
Licorice contains substances similar to steroids. This explains the anti-inflammatory effect of the use of the plant. In addition, licorice lowers cholesterol levels, dissolves its plaques in blood vessels.
Used to treat gastric and duodenal ulcers,acute conditions arising in the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. Prescribed additionally for problems with the adrenal glands.
You can not use the plant during pregnancy and lactation, in the presence of hypertension, myocarditis, cirrhosis of the liver.
Licorice is not an endangered species, but needs to be protected and cultivated.
Herbaceous
There are few forests in the Orenburg region, so there are more herbaceous medicinal plants. These are thickets of valerian, St. John's wort, Tatar motherwort, angelica, nettle, aconite, celandine, mint.
Valerian officinalis (cat root)
From the Latin the name is translated "to be he althy." In nature, a biennial or perennial is found. Valerian has a thin multi-branched root, a stem with furrows, up to 1.5 m high.
The leaves of the plant are elongated with teeth. Pinkish, purple small flowers are collected in inflorescences of 7-10 pieces. The species needs cultivation, it grows in meadows, in river valleys, in the foothills.
The cat root contains tannins and essential oils, therefore it is used to treat the digestive system, cardiovascular abnormalities, and nervous disorders.
Red Book Plants
Medicinal representatives of the flora, which are threatened with extinction, are listed in the Red Book.
In the Orenburg region, more than 50 varieties are named rare. Of these, medicinal plants of the Red Book of the Orenburg region are called dubious hawthorn, juniperCossack, Sukachev's larch, Krasheninnikov's plantain, Pulmonary gentian.
Cossack Juniper
Included in the list of medicinal plants of the Orenburg region. From the cypress family, evergreen. It has exfoliating bark, dark green needle-like leaves. It bears male (ear-shaped) and female (cone-shaped) flowers that turn into black and green cone-berries.
The cones contain essential oils that are used in folk medicine to disinfect open wounds, inside - as an antimicrobial agent.
Decoctions and infusions are made from the plant, which can help with lung diseases, with problems with the liver, intestines. Alternative Cancer Therapy suggests using juniper to treat skin cancer.
Poisonous
Poisonous (and medicinal) plants of the Orenburg region make up about 5% of the total number of flora growing in the region. These include, for example, celandine, Indian dope, belladonna.
Celandine
Celandine is a perennial plant with a short red root, a single stem up to 1 m high. Contains carotene and alkaloids. Due to the presence of the first substance, when the stem is broken, thick juice of a bright orange color actively oozes from it. The second component makes celandine poisonous and dangerous. This is an exclusively wild herb, found in garden plots.
Folk therapy offers recipes based on celandine juice and roots. Overdose or prolonged use may cause poisoning. Inside is used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, sedative, tonic. In cosmetology, celandine removes age spots on the skin, freckles, warts.
Conclusion
Medicinal plants require careful treatment, the Red Book seeks to achieve the preservation and protection of species. Knowledge of the toxicity of medicinal plants is an essential condition for competent handling of flora and respect for life.
