The young lady is tenacious - an aggressive weed plant with healing properties

The young lady is tenacious (also known as a lopuchnik, a scratch or claw) and is used in folk medicine for the treatment of many ailments. Although it is a weed, healers have long been harvested during flowering to prepare their potions. Used inside as a decoction for the treatment of diseases of the liver, kidneys, intestinal tract. Infusions and ointments on its basis used for various skin diseases, and powder sprinkled with ulcers and wounds.

Characteristic

The picket is tenacious (Galium aparine L.) - this is an annual herbaceous plant of the family Marenovye. Root system is pivotal. The stem of an adult plant is tetrahedral. In the presence of a number of supports, the bedstrawer clings to it during intensive growth, rising upwards. In the open area the stalk is recumbent. Leaves wedge-shaped, lanceolate with sharpening. They are collected in whorls of 6-8 pieces. Above, the leaves and stem along the edges are covered with spines with curved edges and stiff bristles. These features make the whole plant very tenacious.

Bloom of the mother-tree from May to the end of June. Fruits from the middle of summer to early September. Flowers are small on the stems in the form of a spike. Petals of corolla are white. Forms a small (1.5-3 mm) oblong fruit-nutlet. They can be up to 500 pieces per plant. The surface of the fruit is bristly, the color is gray-brown. The seed resembles a flattened nutlet in shape. It retains viability in the soil up to 5 years. Can germinate from a depth of 6 cm.

Spread

The young lady is tenacious everywhere. You can find it in forests, forest plantations, meadows, along roads and railway embankments. It grows in the middle of the bush and in the open. Litter gardens and gardens. Prefers fertile soils with good moisture. On such soil grows intensely, branches and shows ecological plasticity at a high level.

The plant is aggressive, clings to bristles and hooks on leaves for neighboring species, branching and often overwhelms them with its growth. Crops of winter cereals and spring crops under its weight fall, which complicates their harvesting.

Under the favorable conditions, the first shoots may appear by the end of September. They winter well and with the onset of heat actively grow. Seeds, lying under the snow, give seedlings depending on the region in March or April.

The young lady is tenacious: fighting measures

Propagated by seeds. Therefore, the best protection against contamination of the site is the cleaning of the seed grain during the harvesting phase or during storage. Seed material from the bedrock seed is separated quite well. Autumn shoots of this weed, overwintered and appeared early in the spring in cultivated crops, are destroyed when harrowing.

The March and April shoots in most cases are destroyed by tillage before sowing the main crops. In tilled crops, the main measures to combat it are agricultural technology. High stability of weed to herbicides of groups 2,4-D and 2M-4X, used in the processing of grain crops, is noted. There is a positive experience with the anti-alleviation of soil preparations, such as "Simazin", "Prometrin", "Dielen", and also with treatment with a mixture of herbicides based on propionic acid.

Properties

The chemical composition is not well studied, since the plant is not used in official medicine. There are reports that it includes saponins, as well as gallic, citric and rubychloric acids, monotropin, flavonoids, vitamin C, hydrocarbons and other active compounds. From trace elements are present zinc, copper, iron, boron, strontium and others.

The young lady is tenacious has a strong astringent property due to the presence of tannin in his grass. Its diuretic and choleretic action is also noted. May soften infiltrates, shows a weak analgesic, antispasmodic, anti-febrile and hemostatic properties. Its positive activity during wound healing, as well as for relief of conditions with snake bites, was noted. There is evidence of its effectiveness in the treatment of ulcers, rashes, dermatomycosis.

The young lady is tenacious: the application

The aerial part of the plant is used. The workpiece is carried out during flowering. The grass is wilted in the sun, and then dried in the shade. Ready raw materials must be stored in tightly corked containers. The yield of dry grass is up to 25%.

The properties of the pickaxe are used in the treatment of diseases of the kidneys, liver, urinary music and biliary, skin diseases, healing of wounds and ulcers. In folk medicine it is used for malignant neoplasms, for hardening of the glands, for goiter.

Use in the form of a decoction, water or alcohol infusion, prepare from the juice and butter ointments, and the wounds are sprinkled with dry powder. External application is recommended for skin diseases for compresses, rinses and baths. Rubbing tincture helps with arthritis and rheumatism. Inside in the form of tea and as part of the charges used for catarrh of the gastrointestinal tract. Tincture is used for cystitis, urinary retention and insomnia. Fresh juice was used by folk healers to treat epilepsy and cancer.

The pickpocket is considered a conventionally poisonous plant, so you should be careful with the dosage, especially when taking its drugs inside.