Edible herbs and plants: photos and names. Wild edible plants What plants are wild

Wild plants come in different varieties. They can be found in the field, in the forest, and even in a summer cottage as weeds. These can be herbs, flowers, and cereals. Those who are interested in the nature of their native land know that they are not only beautiful, but can also bring great benefits to people. However, these representatives of the domestic flora can also be dangerous weeds, posing a serious threat to gardeners. Getting rid of these weeds is quite difficult.

Wild plants can be both enemies and friends of humans, so understanding them is very important, especially for those who live close to nature - in rural areas.

Wild plants: examples

One can give a great many examples of such representatives of the fauna. Among these plants there can be a variety of different ones. In general, they can be divided into three groups. The first group includes plants that bring neither benefit nor harm to humans. These are the majority. As a rule, they are used by animals and birds as pasture. The second group includes plants that benefit humans. And finally, the third group includes flowers and herbs, which it is advisable to avoid, since they only bring harm to a person.

The “harmful group” includes poisonous shrubs (for example, poisonous weed) and weeds that cause great harm to agriculture, drowning out beneficial plants (for example, wheatgrass or sow thistle) . The “useful” group includes the following:

In many wild plants there are “cultivated” doubles. As a rule, in this case they differ from each other in size and appearance. For example, wild sorrel differs from sorrel grown in the garden by being smaller in size and having a different leaf shape. In the same way, wild strawberries differ from their “cultivated” relatives, strawberries or Victoria, in the shape of the leaves, the size and taste of the berries.

Peculiarities

These representatives of the flora many interesting features. You can read about this in school textbooks on botany, as well as in special reference books. Among the most striking features are the following:

There are many poisonous plants among wild plants. posing a mortal danger to humans. One of the most dangerous is the poisonous vekh; it was even used in the old days as poison when they wanted to destroy an unwanted person. In order to avoid mortal danger, you need to know what poisonous plants look like. You can see their photographs on the Internet and in specialized literature. And children should firmly know that tearing, much less putting them in their mouths, without the permission of adults is strictly prohibited.

This elementary rule of safe behavior in the forest and in the field must be strictly observed. Farmers who prepare their own feed for livestock must also be familiar with poisonous plants by sight. Among the wild ones there are herbs that are harmless to humans, but can cause serious food poisoning in pets.

Practical benefits

Among these plants there are many medicinal. Also, many wild plants are excellent food for small and large livestock. If you read about the benefits of these plants, you can learn a lot of interesting things. From time immemorial, many herbs in Rus' were considered medicinal, beneficial, and even nutritious: during the hungry years of crop failure, many herbs were eaten. Of course, among wild herbs and flowers there are many poisonous and harmful weeds. Therefore, it is very important not to confuse beneficial wild plants with harmful or “neutral” ones, which bring neither benefit nor harm.

For example, There are two types of wild sorrel: edible sorrel (small small leaves) and “horse” sorrel, which has no nutritional value and does not have a pleasant taste (a plant with a thick long stem and large leaves, shaped like edible wild sorrel). Many wild plants that have practical benefits are purposefully planted and grown by people. For example, clover can grow on its own, or it can be grown as feed for large and small livestock or as a honey plant for beekeeping.

Now there are few people who are well versed in the benefits of wild plants, with the exception of botanists. However, in old times in Rus' there were a lot of herbalists. They not only prepared medicines from them, but also attributed sacred or magical properties to some herbs. Practical knowledge about the benefits of wild plants was mixed with superstitions. Currently, the ancient science of herbs has turned into a practical branch of medicine - herbal medicine.

Modern herbalists no longer attribute magical properties to wild herbs, but use them to make medicines that effectively treat many serious diseases, including oncology. Many people leading a healthy lifestyle actively include edible roots in their daily diet. Their main advantage is that they contain powerful antioxidants that slow down the process of physiological aging.

Wild plants have played an important role in human life since ancient times. They may also be friends" and "enemies". Therefore, it is very important to know “by sight” both useful and poisonous. Useful wild plants are man’s first assistants in treatment, nutrition, and agriculture. In order to make the most effective use of their beneficial properties, you need to read specialized literature on botany, biology and the nature of your native land as often as possible.

Many wild plants leave the earth's expanses for various reasons, remaining only in people's memories or in multi-page encyclopedias. Not all people are indifferent to this. Plant enthusiasts are trying to shelter endangered species in the botanical gardens of scientific institutions and in the vast countryside flower beds. Such plants include a perennial called “Clausia sunflower”, which is listed in the Red Books of eight Russian regions.

Studying the habits of the savage

She set herself a number of tasks to study the habits of the plant, its biological characteristics, in order to preserve the qualities and abilities of Clausia as much as possible during its cultivation, rationally using natural gifts in the creation of modern green landscapes.

She outlined her long-term observations in a scientific dissertation.

Love for beauty

It is unlikely that among the numerous flower crops that are popular among summer residents and included in catalogues, one can see the name “Clausia sunflower”. But the best advertising at all times was word of mouth. We will use his services so that the work of people who love the beautiful creations of nature and are trying to save endangered plant species by “taming them” will not be in vain.

Habitus of Clausia sunflower

A few-flowered raceme inflorescence is collected from lilac-purple or purple-pink flowers with fragrant petals, the size of which varies from 10 to 20 mm.

As if sensing a person’s care for themselves, in the culture of Clausia sunflower, the length and width of the leaves have increased and their decorative properties have been strengthened. Although no increase in the size of the flowers was noticed, the number of flowers in the inflorescences increased, and the simple stems were enriched with lateral shoots, giving the bushes a pleasant lushness.

Growing Clausia sunflower in culture

Not counting on the mercy of nature, Clausia sunny is not picky about soils, settling on chalk, calcareous and rocky slopes; in pine and larch dry sparse forests. However, having moved under the care of a person, she loves additional watering, to which she responds with larger petals and fresher flowers.

It reproduces by offspring, which, unfortunately, do not take root well, so they must be separated from the mother with a lump of earth. It is more favorable to sow seeds in the spring, planting them in the soil to a depth of 1 cm. The seedlings that appear after a week are thinned out and be sure to be watered regularly.

The low-growing plant is suitable for rocky gardens, rock gardens and other types of flower beds, where it will become a pleasant neighbor for perennials.

“Our food should be a healing agent, and our healing agents should be food,” taught the great Hippocrates. Following this thesis, the author of the book, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences G. Z. Berson, popularly talks about the use in everyday life of wild herbaceous and tree-shrub plants common in the north-west of the USSR as medicinal products and non-traditional food products. The book provides recommendations for making 60 dosage forms at home, and provides about 70 culinary recipes for dishes from 33 well-known plants.
Designed for a wide range of readers, it can be useful to a large tribe of amateur gardeners and tourists, as well as participants in various expeditions and search parties.

Introduction

Use of wild plants for medicinal purposes

Using wild plants in cooking

Trees and shrubs

Introduction

According to the new nutritional standards recommended by the Institute of Nutrition of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in 1988, 60-75% of the diet should consist of plant components. Every day, especially in winter, an adult needs to consume at least 330 g of potatoes, 400 g of other vegetables (including melons), 260 g of fresh fruits and berries. If the diet lacks vegetables, fruits and berries, this leads to a deterioration in health, decreased performance, the appearance of various diseases and a reduction in life expectancy. In order to somehow eliminate or at least reduce the shortage of plant food, you should pay attention to edible wild plants.

For a long time, people have been eating mushrooms, wild berries and fruits, nuts and wild vegetables - sorrel, wild garlic, cumin, chicory, tarragon. For the diet of Siberians, for example, these gifts of nature are traditional. Significant (V.L. Cherepnin, for example, describes 157 species of edible plants), but so far we have little use of the arsenal of non-traditional food wild plants, which, according to economic characteristics, can be classified as vegetable, grain, oilseed and fruit and berry plants.

During the siege of Leningrad, 40 types of wild plants were eaten, and 35 of them were used as vegetables - alone or in combination with traditional foods. It was recognized that in terms of nutritional value, wild edible plants are not only not inferior to cultivated plants, but often surpass them. For example, stinging nettle sometimes contains 8 times more ascorbic acid than the “northern lemon” - kohlrabi; the carotene content of stinging nettle is 1.5 times higher than that of parsley, and the protein content of quinoa leaves is equivalent to spinach. Moreover, most edible wild plants have high medicinal activity, have a wide spectrum of action and have long been used in folk medicine, and currently in modern herbal medicine.

The list of wild plants from which you can prepare a variety of dishes is very large. For salads, nettle, dandelion, plantain, knotweed, cinquefoil, burdock, quinoa, wood lice, lungwort, hogweed, angelica and many other useful plants are used. Nettle, dandelion, plantain, knotweed, cinquefoil, burdock, horsetail, quinoa, primrose, woodlice, fireweed, lungwort, hogweed, angelica, etc. are added to soups, borscht, cabbage soup, okroshka. To sauces and seasonings for main courses add tansy, woodlice, angelica, hogweed, fireweed, primrose, wormwood, horsetail, knotweed, plantain, dandelion, burdock, cinquefoil, and nettle. For preparing drinks (tea, juices, decoctions, kvass, etc.), fireweed, burdock, knotweed, plantain, dandelion, calamus, tansy, wormwood, etc. are recommended.

To prepare exquisite dessert dishes, humanity has long been using the healing fruits and berries of wild trees and shrubs familiar to us from childhood: lingonberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, viburnum, cranberries, raspberries, cloudberries, currants, bird cherry, blueberries, rose hips. But few people know that no less healthy and tasty dishes can be prepared from plants that are unusual in this regard for our perception, such as black elderberry, heather, dwarf birch, juniper and even... pine.

Naturally, this book does not contain all edible wild plants. We limited ourselves to describing only those of them that are often found in the northwestern and northern regions of the USSR and can be used for medicinal purposes. Edible wild plants, information about the healing properties of which is not available in the popular literature, for example, tuberous sage, broad-leaved cattail, common arrowleaf, umbellate susak, common reed, as well as sageweed and common gooseberry (the medicinal properties of both of these umbelliferous plants are known, but when collected they can confused with poisonous hemlock and hemlock), we did not consider them.

Use of wild plants for medicinal purposes

The collection of medicinal wild plants usually begins in early spring and continues until late autumn. As a rule, leaves and stems are collected before flowering or during flowering, flowers - at the beginning of blooming, seeds - when ripe, roots and rhizomes - in the first year of the plant's life in autumn or in the second year in early spring, before the awakening of dormant buds. They are harvested in clear, dry weather, since raw materials take a long time to dry, quickly become moldy and lose a large amount of useful substances. They are collected only in ecologically clean areas, at a distance of at least 300 m from highways, preferably in the forest or at the edge of the forest, on sunny slopes. When collecting medicinal herbs, large specimens are preferred, and the best of them are left untouched so that contamination can occur. All parts of the plant are washed well, the rhizomes and roots are crushed and laid out in a thin layer on clean paper, large leaves are separated from the stems and spread in a single sheet. Harvested plants can be hung dried by tying them into bunches. In both cases, dark, well-ventilated rooms are used for drying. You can also dry plants in the oven at a temperature of 45-50 °C. The components of the collection, including seeds, must be well mixed. Dried raw materials are stored in bags made of thick fabric or paper. As a rule, its maximum shelf life is two years.

Before use, dried plants are pounded in a mortar so that the particle size of the crushed grass and leaves is 2-3 mm, roots and rhizomes - 5-6 mm. Flowers are usually not crushed.

Only familiar plants should be used for medicinal purposes, strictly observing the dosage and recommendations for the preparation of dosage forms.

The main forms of medicines used at home are decoctions, infusions and decoctions.

To prepare decoctions, the raw materials are poured with cold or boiling water and, after the liquid boils over low heat (or better yet, in a water bath), they are boiled for a certain time. Then boiled water is added to the resulting decoction, bringing the volume to the original volume, since concentrated decoctions are poorly absorbed by the body.

To prepare infusions, the raw materials are poured with boiling water or cold water and infused. When the herb is poured with cold water, a longer period of infusion is required.

To prepare decoctions, the raw materials are poured with boiling water, brought to a boil, boiled in a water bath for a short time, and then infused.

When preparing dosage forms, do not use metal utensils. Water should be taken distilled or, in extreme cases, filtered using “Springhead”. If long-term hot infusion is necessary, it is convenient to do this in a thermos. When preparing decoctions, half the dose of herb can be boiled in dry red wine, and the other half in water and then combined.

A significant part of the diseases are chronic diseases that require continuous treatment. Since long-term use of pharmacological agents leads to allergic and nervous diseases, the occurrence of ulcers of the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, metabolic disorders and other “medicinal diseases”, mild non-toxic complex herbal preparations, mainly those indicated, are most suitable for maintenance therapy between courses of main treatment above forms. At the same time, the duration of taking a specific herbal medicine should not exceed 1.5 months, since the body gets used to it, and after this period it is necessary to switch to a herbal remedy that is adequate in its therapeutic effect. Repeated use is allowed after six months.

Compositions of 2-4 plants are often recommended for medicinal use. In this case, when selecting a mixture of two components, each of them is taken in a dose equal to 1/2 of the portion required for the preparation of a drug from one plant, when selecting a mixture of three components - 1/3, etc. The spectrum of action of mixtures is wider than the spectrum of action of drugs made from any one plant, and the period of adaptation to them is longer. However, if the recipes are too complex, herbs can inactivate each other, losing their healing properties. On the second to fourth day of taking herbal medicines, an exacerbation of the disease may occur. In this case, you need to reduce the dosage for a few days, and then return to the previous one.

The control period of treatment is usually about three weeks, after which it becomes clear whether this herbal remedy is suitable for you or whether it needs to be replaced with a similar one.

Using wild plants in cooking

The collection of wild plants for use as food begins in early spring, when the human body’s need for vitamins is especially acute, and fresh vegetables are practically absent. If possible, edible plants should be collected before they begin to bloom, since later the tender young shoots and leaves become coarser, lose their nutritional value and are only suitable for drying and fermentation. Collection is carried out in good weather, in the afternoon, when the leaves of the plant dry out from dew and replenish the reserves of nutrients used up at night. Green shoots and leaves are carefully cut off with a knife or scissors so as not to damage the root system.

Collect only those plants that you know well. Follow the mandatory rule when picking mushrooms: IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, DON'T PICK! In unfavorable environmental conditions, plants become unsuitable for food, so they cannot be collected in landfills, in places where sewage accumulates, along roads, near cities and industrial enterprises.

The collected green parts of plants are cleaned of debris and those on them. small insects And wash thoroughly from earth and dust. Green salads should be prepared on the day of collection, or at least after no more than two days of storage in a plastic bag on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Before cooking, the greens should be rinsed in cold water, changing it 2-3 times. Greens must be chopped quickly to reduce the time of contact of cellular tissues with air, as a result of which vitamin C is destroyed. After chopping the greens, vinegar or citric acid should be added to it - they promote hydrolysis of fiber, swelling of protein components and protect vitamin C from destruction.

When preparing salads, chopped plants are flavored with seasonings. To 100 g of greens usually add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1-3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1-3 tablespoons of kefir or yogurt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of mustard, ground black pepper - according to taste. You should not add pepper or mustard to bitter plants (shepherd's purse, dandelion, field grass, etc.), as this will increase the bitterness. Plants with a sweetish taste (white jasmine, Siberian hogweed, purple sedum, etc.) become tastier when hot seasonings are added. Salads can be prepared from one type of plant or by mixing several types. Good mixtures are obtained by combining fragrant herbs with odorless herbs, tasteless herbs with good taste, sour herbs with low-acid herbs, and bitter herbs with insipid herbs.

Chopped greens with vinegar, salt and pepper can be used for sandwiches, serving them before breakfast, lunch or dinner.

When boiled, the greens of edible plants can be used to prepare borscht, green soups, botvinia, and the principle of combining various plants remains the same as for salad. Chopped leaves are immersed in boiling broth just before the dish is ready, and stems and leaf petioles are immersed 5 minutes earlier. Ready-made flour and cereal soups are seasoned with fresh chopped herbs immediately before serving.

Overgrown plants that are unsuitable for fresh consumption are made into a puree (the coarsened fresh parts of the plants are subjected to long-term cooking and then passed through a meat grinder) and used as a semi-finished product for preparing soups, cabbage soup, porridges, cutlets, etc. For cooking Add a small amount of broth to the porridge puree, bring to a boil, season with salt, butter and flour; to prepare the cutlets, add salt and flour, and then fry in a heated frying pan. Greens of fleshy plants (Siberian hogweed, greater burdock, angelica officinale) are good in stewed form.

To prepare greens for future use, drying, fermentation and pickling are used, and for these purposes they often take coarsened plants that are unsuitable for fresh consumption. When drying greens in the oven at a temperature of 80-110 ° C for 25-50 minutes, vitamin C is retained by 70%, and the bitterness is partially destroyed. As a result of subsequent processing of dried herbs, that is, grinding them into powder, the properties of fiber change, helping to increase its digestibility in the small intestine by 2-3 times, as well as preventing fermentation processes and the formation of biogenic amines in the large intestine.

Powders from greens, like fresh herbs, are used to make purees, sauces, soups, as well as muffins, cakes, shortbreads and puddings (the mass of the powder should be 25-40% of the mass of cereals and flour). In the form of powders, even greens containing a large amount of fiber are well absorbed by sick people. Powders should be stored in glass jars with a ground stopper.

Dishes made from pickled (or salted) greens are prepared in the same way as from fresh ones. Greens that taste too spicy should be washed in water before use. Pickled greens are used without processing as a seasoning.

HERBAL PLANTS

CALMUS SWAMP, or FILDER ROOT

(Acorus calamus L.)

A perennial plant from the aroid family, up to 120 cm high, with a triangular stem, long sword-shaped leaves and a thick rhizome, like horseradish. The inflorescence is a yellowish-green spadix up to 8 cm long, slightly deviated from the stem. Blooms in early summer, does not form seeds. Reproduces vegetatively.

It grows along muddy banks, in shallow waters, creeks and oxbow lakes, often forming large thickets. The northern border of the range runs along 60° N. w.

During the conquests of the Golden Horde, Tatar-Mongol horsemen used calamus to determine the quality of water, believing that where this plant takes root and grows well, it is suitable for drinking.

For medicinal purposes and in cooking, mainly the rhizomes are used; sometimes the lower white part of the leaves is eaten fresh. In the Czech Republic, ground calamus is used as a seasoning instead of pepper.

Calamus rhizomes are harvested in the fall, when the water level in reservoirs drops and they can be easily removed with a pitchfork or shovel. The yield of fresh rhizomes per 1 m2 of reservoir is 1.2 kg.

The rhizomes contain starch, gum, tannins, bitter glycoside acorin, essential oil, camphor, etc.

For medicinal purposes, mainly decoctions and infusions are used. They are useful in the treatment of kidney stones, regulate the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, and help improve vision (1)* ( Here and below, the numbers indicate the numbers of medicinal forms of wild plants, information about the preparation of which, as well as the peculiarities of their administration, is given in the appendix). They have an antimicrobial effect (2). Used to strengthen and grow hair (3). Along with decoctions and infusions, you can use a tincture with 40% alcohol in a ratio of 1:5. Calamus tea stimulates appetite, reduces heartburn and improves gallbladder activity.

The use of calamus in cooking is similar to the use of rhubarb.

Culinary use**

(When selecting recipes, materials from the Department of Food Hygiene of Perm Medical University were used. institute, manuals written during the days of the siege of Leningrad, advice from ancient cuisine and expedition notes of the author)

Calamus compote with apples. Boil apples (300 g fresh or 100 g dry) until tender in 1 liter of water, add calamus roots (2 tablespoons dry or 1 cup fresh), bring to a boil, let stand for 5-10 minutes. After this, add granulated sugar (6 tablespoons) and bring to a boil again. You can place the roots in a gauze bag, which should be removed when serving the compote.

Calamus jam. Pour dry calamus roots (1 cup) into boiling thin sugar syrup (3 l), cook for 5-10 minutes, then add 3 cups of apples (or plums, cherry plums, quinces), cut into slices, and cook until tender.

Candied calamus roots. Place fresh roots (pieces 2-3 cm long, split into four parts) into thick sugar syrup, bring to a boil, cook for 5-10 minutes. Remove from syrup and place on clean gauze or wooden cutting board to dry. After the syrup on the roots has dried and hardened, place them in glass jars. Serve with tea.

SIBERIAN CORPG

(Heracleum sibiricum L.)

Large, up to 2 m high, biennial herbaceous plant from the Umbrella family. The pubescent hollow stem has the appearance of a finely ribbed tube, branched in the upper part. The basal three-pinnately dissected leaves are large (up to 90 cm long and up to 80 cm wide), on long (up to 100 cm) petioles. Multiple yellowish-green flowers with petals up to 1 cm are bisexual, collected in large multi-ray inflorescences - umbrellas. Blooms in mid-summer. In the first year of life it forms a powerful rosette of large leaves, and in the second it produces a tall stem, bears fruit and dies.

Grows in sparse forests, forest clearings, bushes, and meadows. The northern border of the range reaches 70° N. w.

Hogweed contains up to 10% sugar, up to 27% protein, up to 16% fiber, as well as vitamin C, carotene, tannins, essential oil, glutamine, coumarin compounds, etc.

Recommended for digestive disorders, as an antispasmodic for diarrhea, dysentery, catarrh of the stomach and intestines, to increase appetite and for skin diseases (4). Can be used as a medicinal product in salads, borscht and other dishes as a sedative.

In Siberian folk medicine, the roots and seeds of hogweed are used as a choleretic agent for kidney disease, various inflammatory and purulent processes, and cholelithiasis. A decoction of the roots is recommended for epilepsy.

When eaten fresh, the petioles and young stems of the plant without the skin, as well as the leaves (the decoction prepared from them has a mushroom taste and is used for soups) are used for food. When harvesting the plant for future use, the leaf petioles are peeled and pickled, and in winter they are consumed as a side dish.

Culinary use

Hogweed leaf salad. Chop the leaves (100 g) boiled for 3-5 minutes, mix with finely chopped green onions (50 g), place on slices of boiled potatoes (100 g), season with vegetable oil (10-15 g) and spices.

Salad of stems and petioles of hogweed. Peel young leaves and petioles (200 g), chop, add finely chopped green or onions (50 g) and grated horseradish (20 g), add salt and mix. Season with spices, vinegar and sour cream (20 g).

Green cabbage soup with hogweed leaves. Put finely chopped potatoes (100 g) into boiling water or broth (0.35 l), after 15 minutes, sauteed onions (40 g), chopped hogweed leaves (100 g) and parsley (30 g) and cook for another 10 minutes . Add salt, pepper, bay leaf (to taste) and margarine (20 g). When serving, season with egg (1/2 piece) and sour cream (20 g).

Hogweed soup. Boil potatoes (50 g) and carrots (10 g) in water or broth (2 cups), add chopped leaves of hogweed (100 g) and sorrel (25 g), boil for 2-5 minutes, then season with fried onions, fats and spices .

Soup dressing. Pass the leaves of young plants through a meat grinder, salt them (200 g of salt per 1 kg of weight) and place in glass jars. Use to add to soups, cabbage soup and side dishes for meat, fish and vegetable dishes.

Hogweed and celery powder. Mix three parts of dried hogweed leaves powder with one part of celery leaves powder. Use for seasoning soups and preparing complex sauces.

Fried hogweed stems. Peel the stems (200 g), cut them into 2-3 cm pieces, boil them in salted water (0.4 l), drain in a colander, sprinkle with breadcrumbs (20 g) and fry in margarine (20 g).

Candied hogweed stems. Peel the stems (1 kg), cut into 1-3 cm pieces and cook for 10 minutes in thick sugar syrup (2 cups of sand per 2 cups of water). Remove from syrup and dry at room temperature. Serve with tea.

Knotweed, or knotweed

(Polygonum aviculare L.)

An annual plant from the buckwheat family, 10-50 cm high, with ascending branched stems and small, 1-4 cm long, elliptical leaves. The nodes of the stems are covered with light membranous sockets. The flowers are small, collected in groups of 2-5 in the leaf axils. Blooms all summer. During the growing season, one plant produces up to 5 thousand seeds.

It grows in meadows, bushes, forest clearings, swamps, shallows and sands, along roads, in vegetable gardens, especially well in irrigated areas. Contaminates field and vegetable crops. The northern border of the range goes far beyond the Arctic Circle.

Fresh knotweed grass contains a large amount of protein (4.4%), nitrogen-free extractives (11%), and fiber (5.3%). In addition, it contains a significant amount of carotene, vitamin K, flavonoids, glycosides and trace elements. It is superior to kohlrabi in terms of vitamin C content. It is not surprising that this plant has found wide use in therapy.

It has a general strengthening effect, is used for the treatment of kidney stones, as a diuretic, regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, helps increase blood clotting, is useful for uterine atony (5) and for strengthening hair (externally). It is taken for hypertension as an anthelmintic and sedative (6).

Young stems and leaves of knotweed are used to make salads and soups; in addition, the leaves are dried for the winter.

Culinary use

Knotweed salad. Mix washed and chopped young leaves (50 g) and green onions (50 g) with chopped boiled egg (1 piece). Add salt to taste, sprinkle with dill and season with sour cream (20 g).

Knotweed soup. Boil potatoes (100 g) cut into cubes in water or broth (0.35 l) for 15-20 minutes, add chopped knotweed (100 g), sautéed onions (50 g), carrots (10 g), fats (5 g) ) and salt (to taste).

Knotweed caviar. Boil washed greens (100 g) and carrots (10 g) until half cooked, then pass through a meat grinder, add sautéed onions (10 g) and simmer until tender. After cooling, sprinkle with dill (5 g) and season with vegetable oil (5 g), vinegar (5 g) and mustard (1 g).

Knotweed and nettle puree. Wash knotweed and nettle leaves, taken in equal quantities, grind in a meat grinder and add salt to taste. Use for seasoning soups (2 tablespoons per serving), as a seasoning for main meat and fish dishes, as well as for making salads (1-2 tablespoons per serving).

Knotweed and garlic puree. Grind knotweed greens (200 g) and garlic (50 g) in a meat grinder, add salt (to taste) and mix. Add pepper and season with vinegar.

Angelica officinalis, or Angelica

(Angelica officinalis L.)

A biennial large, up to 3 m high, pleasantly smelling plant from the Umbelliferae family with a hollow stem and a thick radish-like rhizome containing milky sap.

At first glance, it can be confused with Siberian hogweed, but, unlike hogweed, angelica has a smooth, reddish below, slightly purple stem and large spherical inflorescences on top. Blooms in summer. In the first year of life it forms a powerful rosette of large leaves, and in the second it produces a tall stem, bears fruit and dies.

It grows along river banks, in damp ravines, along the edges of damp forests, and sometimes in wetlands.

A companion of angelica officinalis is the very similar angelica silica. The stem of this plant reaches a height of 2 m and is not reddish, like Angelica officinalis, but has a bluish bloom, the inflorescences are not yellowish-green, but white-pink, and the leaf petioles in cross-section are not round, but triangular. In addition, angelica root has a weak, unpleasant aroma.

Angelica officinalis leaves in the budding phase are distinguished by a high content of protein, fat and fiber. This plant contains essential oil, organic acids, tannins, aromatics and many other biologically active substances, and there are many more of them in the roots. Angelica contains less aromatic substances and more protein.

For medicinal purposes, rhizomes and roots of angelica officinalis are used, which are harvested in the fall of the first year of plant development (use in combination with angelica silica is allowed).

The roots of Angelica officinalis have an analgesic and antispasmodic effect, are prescribed for flatulence and to tone the stomach in case of indigestion and high acidity, are used as an expectorant for diseases of the respiratory organs and a means for stimulating the secretion of bile, and act as a diuretic (7). Recommended for baths for hysteria and mild nervous agitation. Used in the form of an alcohol tincture (1:10) for rubbing against rheumatism.

In cooking, angelica officinalis is used primarily as a spice. The juicier angelica can also be used for making salads and soups.

Culinary use

Apple jam with angelica officinalis. Boil washed and crushed angelica roots (300 g) in 70% sugar syrup (3 l) for 30 minutes. After this, add small, the size of a chicken yolk, apples (3 kg) along with the stalks and cook until tender.

Tea with dudni

The flora of our planet is extremely diverse and beautiful. A huge number of different life forms of plants provide not only aesthetic pleasure, but also bring very tangible practical benefits: they are a source of nutrition, decorative elements, a supplier of medicines, a source of clean and fresh air filled with oxygen, etc.

Among all life forms of plants, a large place is given to herbs, both cultivated and wild. They occupy almost 50% of the total flora of the planet, so we will consider them.

Herbs: general characteristics

Most often, herbs include plants that have slightly modified shoots. That is, in the classical sense, a shoot should include a stem, leaves and a flower. So, not all structural parts may be observed in herbs. Often the stem is modified, the leaves acquire a shape and size that helps them adapt to environmental conditions as much as possible.

Of course, all herbs have a flower as a reproductive organ. However, they are also very different in size, shape and color. This factor will depend on the pollination method of the particular plant species.

Wild herbs are a very large group, including representatives from almost all known families of angiosperms. The names of herbs are very diverse. There are both historically established “names” and scientific data based on binary nomenclature (in Latin, the first name is genus, the second is species). For example, Leonurus heterophyllus, or motherwort.

The root system, shoot branching, flower and leaf structure - all these botanical characteristics will depend on the specific genus and species of plant, so it is impossible to identify any common morphological characteristics for all wild herbs.

Classification of herbs

The basis can be based on different signs, but the most commonly used division of herbs is:

• Annuals - buttercups, cornflowers, ageratums, cinquefoils, daturas, poppies, chamomiles - the names of herbs in this group can be listed for a very long time, since they are numerous.
• Biennials - mallow, spurge, sweet clover, lupine, forget-me-not, bellflower, viola and others.
• Perennials - begonia, anemone, alyssum, St. John's wort, reed, iris, wood sorrel, oregano, elecampane and others. The names of herbs in this category reflect their purpose. Obviously, this includes many well-known medicinal species.

In addition to this classification, another one can be given. The basis is the area of ​​human use.

1. Medicinal herbs - celandine, string, thyme, chamomile, sage, calendula, burnet, lily of the valley and others.
2. Cultivated agricultural plants - vegetables, fruits,
3. - ginger, fennel, horseradish, anise, parsley, basil, lemon balm, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, saffron, laurel and so on.
4. Ornamental grasses - ornamental cabbage, bordered euphorbia, Daurian moonseed, young, bergenia, kochia, rogersia and many others.

According to the place of growth, all herbs can be divided into mountain, forest, meadow, swamp, desert, steppe and garden (weeds and cultivated plants).

Wild herbs in Russia

There are a lot of such representatives. Almost all wild herbs, names and photos of their representatives can be seen in any corresponding encyclopedia. Let's try to take a closer look at the diversity of Russian wild herbs.

More than 900 species are known only for medicinal purposes, and there are many others. Their distribution across climatic zones is uneven. It is known that most plants, including herbs, are located in the more southern, southeastern and eastern regions of our country. The northern, northwestern and western regions are densely populated, but not so diverse in species composition.

So, we can cite as an example the region of Siberia (Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, all nearby areas, up to Chukotka). Here the most common wild herbs, the names of which are as follows:

• parfolia;
• Tribulus;
• dandelion;
• sorrel;
• shepherd's purse;
• primrose;
• viburnum;
• calliper;
• Highlander;
• bergenia;
• various sedges;
• feather grass;
• sagebrush;
• quinoa;
• celandine and many others.

Among those listed you can find both medicinal and conventional types. One thing they have in common is that they are representatives of flora living in the wild. Herbs are plants that are simply impossible to cover in one article. Too many of them. The European part of Russia is represented by a variety of beautiful flowering herbs that form entire carpets of different colors, making the wild nature unimaginably beautiful. Among them are the names of herbs such as lingonberry, common loosestrife, speedwell, common heather, Fischer's clove, forest geranium, and chickweed.

Due to good climatic conditions, the central zone of Russia is famous for its many medicinal species of herbs, which also create a beautiful summer, spring and autumn landscape with their flowers. These are such as fragrant roses, lily of the valley, young shoots, oak grass, nightshade, blueberry, jasmine, hawkweed and others.

We will dwell on mountainous areas and their various herbs in more detail later.

Forest chin

A beautiful perennial plant with a bright pink corolla and a wonderful honey aroma that attracts pollinating insects from June until the autumn days of September. Many grazing animals choose this wild-growing beauty for food, since its roots, stems and leaves contain a lot of proteins and carbohydrates. Belongs to the Moth family (Bean family). Its main economic importance is as a perennial, it carries out annual soil drainage, participates in soil-forming processes, and is good for livestock feed. Has no medicinal value.

Buttercup caustic

A very widespread plant classified as poisonous. It is found in almost all zones of Russia and is highly adaptable to environmental conditions. Includes several types of grass, the names and photos of which can be seen below.

Buttercup varieties:

• caustic (“night blindness” in common parlance);
• Kashubian;
• creeping;
• Spring chistyak;
• garden and others.

It is not suitable for grazing animals, since the shoots of the plant are poisonous. Once dried to hay, it is safe. It is not used in conventional medicine, but in alternative medicine it is very common as a remedy for rheumatism, open wounds, boils, tuberculosis and burns.

Mountain herbs

The most famous among these are, of course, Altai herbs. A huge number of cosmetics, medicines, tinctures, balms, ointments are created based on extracts of these miraculous plants.

After all, the very air of this mountainous area seems to heal. Almost all plants grown on the rocky surfaces of Altai are medicinal. Animals that eat these herbs are the strongest and healthiest. People who use fees from these places for treatment have fewer chronic diseases than residents of other areas.

Some Altai herbs that have received national recognition and are most often used by humans:

• red brush (Rhodiola quadripalum);
• milk thistle;
• golden rod;
• hill solyanka;
• penny man;
• upland uterus (ortilia unilateral);
• Veronica black;
• White bloodroot;
• small basilisk;
• the rank is squat;
• burnet;
• common calendula;
• sweet clover;
• Umbrella hawkweed;
• marshmallow;
• Chokeberry;
• sandy immortelle and many others.

Balms that combine several herbal components are very common. They help with a variety of problems: cleanse, soothe, tone, normalize blood pressure, restore sleep, relieve headaches and chronic fatigue, and so on. Such wild mountain herbs, the names of which were given above, are very valuable objects of medicine.

Milk thistle

Another name for this Altai herb is milk thistle. Since ancient times, this plant has been revered as a very good medicinal assistant. Infusions from different parts of the herb help against liver diseases, cleanse the intestines and eliminate inflammatory processes, relieve swelling and treat jaundice and many other ailments.

The plant itself sometimes reaches 1.5 m in height. The leaves are very beautiful, with a white border and a dissected edge. The flowers look like round cones, dark pink or purple. A very valuable property of milk thistle, which allows it to be used in both folk and traditional medicine, is the complete absence of side effects.

Its beautiful appearance allows it to be used not only as a medicinal plant, but also as an ornamental plant in many gardens and orchards.

Rhodiola quadripalum

In common parlance - an endemic plant of the Altai region. One of the most popular among these mountain herbs. It is used in both folk and traditional medicine for the treatment of female diseases of the pelvic organs, infertility, male prostatitis, and inflammation. Helps stop bleeding, normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular system, and helps in the treatment of various types of viral and bacterial diseases.

Externally very interesting, unusual herbs. The description is as follows: low plants growing on rocky surfaces, with narrow, closely spaced leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous and pale, but the leaflet-shaped fruits are very bright and red. The shape of the leaves resembles a brush, which is why this plant got its name.

The most common medicinal herbs

This group includes many representatives around the world. There is also a wide variety of them in Russia. After all, almost all plants (with the exception of highly poisonous ones) contain useful alkaloids, essential oils, resins, tannins, minerals and other components that allow them to be used as medicinal herbs. The names of the most common and famous representatives of this group, growing in our country, are as follows:

• pharmaceutical camomile;
• White bloodroot;
• coltsfoot;
• lemon balm;
• Umbrella wintergreen;
• hog uterus;
• common raspberry;
• large plantain;
• motherwort five-lobed;
• calamus;
• Golden root;
• fragrant collision;
• Red viburnum;
• calendula;
• Schisandra chinensis;
• common rose hip;
• Eleutherococcus senticosus;
• echinacea;
• series;
• celandine and many others.

Obviously, it is simply impossible to list all the plants, since their species diversity is too great.

Aloe arborescens

Among household potted plants, agave, or aloe, is often used as a medicine. It is a succulent plant with thick, fleshy leaves topped with thorns. Aloe juice contains many (up to 200) different beneficial substances. They help treat open wounds, inflammation, bacterial and viral diseases.

The most common herbs

They have been used since ancient times as medicines, but most often as food additives that make dishes refined, original and very aromatic. We will give some names of Russian spicy herbs at the end of the article: horseradish, dill, parsley, celery, parsnip, black pepper, cardamom, peppermint, lemon balm, mustard and some others.

Since ancient times, people have tried to supplement their menu with healthy plant foods. Today we have every opportunity to consume greens throughout the year, but plants growing in greenhouse conditions are worse in their beneficial properties than those of soil origin.

And today people have the opportunity to take advantage of the experience of ancient ancestors - to include wild edible herbs in their daily diet.

The information presented in the article will help you understand plants, identify edible herbs (photo and name below) and plants among their huge variety, and get acquainted with their undoubtedly beneficial properties.

general information

Spring vitamin greens are always good for any feast. It helps to improve the health of the body, adds vigor and strength. Therefore, many housewives do not refuse to use wild edible herbs.

Below are some of the most common and most famous photos of edible herbs and their descriptions.

There is a special day in the folk calendar called Mavra - May 16 of the new style. On this day, in the old days, a dish appeared on the tables of peasants (and gentlemen) that was prepared from fresh green forest and meadow herbs. And it was very appetizing.

And in the ancient Russian “Izbornik of Svyatoslav” (a written monument of the 11th century) it says: “There is great power in a vegetable.” This means not only garden greens (there were few of them at that time), but also greens growing in the wild.

Edible wild plants and herbs are more beneficial. Below we will present some types of “pasture” that have a large number of different vitamins, minerals and other useful substances.

Nettle

You can often find this edible herb in the garden. This plant is known to everyone, because it lives everywhere. Nettle is one of the first to appear in the spring after the soil warms up.

This plant loves fertilized (manured) soils.

Only the freshest spring nettle greens should be collected for consumption. It is used for preparing borscht, cabbage soup and making fillings for pies. Older leaves can be pickled for future use, like cabbage.

Russian peasants, when there was an acute shortage of food, even added dry ground herbs to flour for baking bread, and sprinkled the seeds into potatoes and cereals.

In the richest pantry of nature there are not very many edible wild herbs that have such value as nettles. Thirty grams of its greens provide a person with vitamin C and carotene for the whole day.

Nettle is beneficial for both people and pets. Nettle leaves are also used for other purposes - they are an excellent raw material for the production of green paint. Harvesting is usually done when the plant is flowering.

Dandelion

If you are asked which herb is edible, the first thing that comes to mind is dandelion.

The young leaves of this plant are good. They should be picked before the baskets bloom (the first days of May). The plant completely replaces spinach in salads. The only drawback is bitterness, which is eliminated in two ways: bleaching or scalding. To bleach, the dandelion should be completely covered from sunlight with straw or boards. Scalding - the collected leaves are doused with boiling water twice.

The leaves of the plant are very rich in useful microelements. It is recommended to use them in food when the body is exhausted and with anemia. Dandelion buds can be pickled. This is an excellent and sophisticated seasoning for meat dishes, completely replacing capers.

Wild onion (ramson)

Some edible herbs that grow in nature are similar in appearance and taste to their relatives grown by people in the garden. For example, the onion, which is familiar to us, has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times.

Many of its varieties that grow in nature are not inferior in their properties to ordinary garden onions, and even surpass them in terms of healing properties. It has been scientifically proven that wild onions contain unique essential oils that have a good phytoncidal effect and a large amount of vitamins.

The best way to eat it is fresh in salads and simply with salt. Incorrect, excessive cooking reduces or completely negates the value of the plant. Onions are good both in minced dumplings and as a seasoning for dishes.

Wild garlic appears in the forest at the end of April with the first rays of the spring sun. It contains about 15 times more vitamin C than oranges and lemon. Wild onions also contain saponins, organic acids. Even the combination of only two medicinal factors - phytoncides and vitamins, puts wild garlic in the first row of the best healing and food products of nature.

When collecting wild garlic, you need to carefully cut off the stems with a knife without damaging the rhizomes for further propagation. The harvested crop is also fermented. To do this, the best specimens are selected, rinsed in cold water and chopped with a knife. Then the whole mass is well salted and placed in a wooden barrel under pressure, just like when fermenting cabbage. After a short time or immediately after fermentation, the product is used in salads and served as a side dish for meat and potato dishes.

Lungwort

Lungwort can rightfully be included in the list of “Edible Herbs of Russia” among the first. This plant appears immediately after the snow melts among last year's forest foliage. Juicy young shoots are used for food.

It grows in mixed, sparse coniferous and deciduous forests. Also found in mountain meadows and floodplains. Their distribution area is the European part of Russia, the Urals and Siberia.

Lungwort is one of the most famous and beloved edible plants among the people. The young stems of the flower are eaten fresh, and the chopped leaves and stems are also added to spring soups and salads.

Lungwort contains a large amount of manganese, potassium, iron and other elements. There are also carotene, rutin, ascorbic acid, as well as mucous and tannins. Lungwort is a valuable medicinal plant, known in Rus' for a long time.

Horsetail

Even horsetail is an edible herb and plant. Probably everyone knows him by his appearance. It is suitable for food in the spring, when young shoots carrying spores stick out like arrows across wet meadows with sandy and clay soil.

Its shoots are used in the preparation of casseroles and pies (filling). You can eat them both raw and boiled. A long time ago, horsetail was always held in high esteem on the peasant table. It should be noted that the tubers on the rhizomes of this plant (groundnuts) are also edible. They are used both boiled and baked.

Asparagus

In the spring, during the flowering of bird cherry, large and juicy sprouts of white-green asparagus appear on sandy slopes and hills, well lit by the sun. This is another great plant that is rich in vitamins and has many other beneficial properties. This plant was introduced into cultivation by the ancient Romans, who were already able to appreciate its quality at that time.

In Russia, asparagus grows wild in meadows among shrubs in the European part, in the Caucasus and Western Siberia. Adult asparagus consists of panicle-like branches (like Christmas trees) with red round berries. They are often used to decorate flower bouquets. Young shoots are thick shoots with triangular scales, at first whitish and then darken to brownish-greenish shades. They also come with a shade of purple. Boiled young shoots are eaten, used both as a side dish and as a main dish.

Hogweed

Some names of edible herbs are familiar to many people because they have been eaten raw since ancient times. These include hogweed, whose stems, peeled, are eaten. They have a pleasant, sweetish taste.

This plant grows to such a huge size over the summer that a standing person can easily hide behind it. Its stems are tubular and slightly woolly. In spring, hogweed has tender stems and leaves, and both are edible. This grass loves wet meadows.

To reduce the pungent odor of greens, you must first scald them and only then add them to dishes. Hogweed can also be pickled, but after scalding with boiling water. Peeled stems are good for stir-frying with flour and butter, and for pickling. Hogweed is very popular among lovers of nutritious greens.

Kislitsa

It is impossible not to include sorrel in the list of edible herbs. At the very beginning of spring (the first days of May), short grass appears with light green trifoliate leaves and white flowers. It is too small to collect, but those who try it will remember it for a long time.

It is good in fresh salad and as a dressing for cabbage soup. You can eat it just like that until your teeth set on edge. It tastes like lemon, but is softer and more pleasant. Lovers of hiking and romantic trips brew tea with it, which perfectly quenches their thirst.

It should be noted that wood sorrel, wintering under the snow, retains its leaves until spring, which people tear in the spring.

Quinoa

A well-known spinach plant is quinoa, which is a weed in the vegetable garden.

Its triangular thin leaves are very rich in carotene. Even a few pinches of this greenery perfectly replenish the body’s daily need for this important provitamin.

White quinoa leaves are added to salads, soups and cabbage soup, and ripe seeds of the plant are used to support the bread.

Caraway

In nature’s rich pantry there are also edible plants that almost everyone is familiar with. For example, caraway (or anise), growing in meadows, clearings and along roads. First, this plant develops carrot-like leaves, then a stem (suitable for seasoning salads), and then flowers collected in umbrellas.

Fruiting occurs in August, and then the seeds can be collected to flavor pickles and pickles, and to flavor bread products. Young greens can be dried in the shade in the air, and then sealed in jars for the winter.

Sorrel

In green meadows you can often find sour sorrel, which is also grown in gardens.

Fresh leaves are very good for cabbage soup and other soups. They can also be used in making sauces. This plant well compensates for the lack of spinach, which is rarely grown in the garden. Young shoots of sorrel are especially tasty.

The plant contains large quantities of proteins, sugars and minerals. The characteristic pleasant taste of the wild vegetable is given by oxalate salt, contained in the tender stem and leaves.

The harvesting period for sorrel is short, so it is immediately collected in large quantities and pickled like cabbage in a tub, after having been cleaned and washed. It is prepared for the winter both in the form of a puree (passed through a meat grinder and mixed with salt) and in a dried state.

It is also worth mentioning the sorrel's brothers: small and horse sorrel. The less sour sorrel is squat, its stems are tough, and its leaves look like spears. Horse sorrel is best known as a medicinal plant. Young leaves of the latter can be added to various flour products.

Snooze

Various edible herbs grow very close to people, including plants that few people know are edible. Parks, gardens and copses are overgrown with dark green plants in some places. Many people don’t even realize that cabbage soup cooked from cabbage soup is not inferior in taste to cabbage soup.

The common borer belongs to the Umbelliferae family. Umbrella inflorescences sit on the knitting needles, spreading out like rays in a radial direction. Usually, young petioles and leaves that have not yet unfolded are collected. And the stems are suitable for the table, just without the skin. The petioles and stems add a piquant flavor to salads.

Previously, the leaves and stems of the tree were eaten boiled, stewed with other vegetables, in the form of caviar, meatballs, in soups and borscht. The very name of the plant “snot” has the concept of “food”.

Leaves in a fermented state in winter represent an original product for cabbage soup and for simple consumption. Even in ancient times, the plant was salted, like cabbage, and in the form of a puree. It was an important nutritious and vitamin-containing product that relieved people from the consequences of food shortages.

Conclusion

As early as the 18th century, approximately 700 species of edible leafy vegetables (flowers and herbs) were known. Forest herbs have fed people and saved them from various diseases at all times. Popularly, edible wild-growing beneficial plants are called edible weeds.

And in garden plots, many useful edible plants grow in the form of weeds. In this regard, it makes sense to pay attention to such plants in the spring, collect them for use in cooking, in order to take full advantage of the wonderful gifts of nature to heal the body.