Elsgolzia - Spice And Medicine

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

The wild doctor comes to the garden

The fate of some plants is interesting. Some disappear or become rare, others, on the contrary, spread throughout the globe.

Moreover, they do not spread in vegetable gardens, thanks to cultivation, such as potatoes, but in natural conditions, solely due to their unpretentiousness. One of these plants is Elsgoltia. Initially, in nature, she lived only in East and Central Asia - in China, Japan, India, Mongolia.

Now she has settled on many continents. In Russia, as follows from the academic publication World Resources of Useful Plants (p. 372), it can be found growing wild in the Far East, in Eastern and Western Siberia, in the middle zone of the European part of Russia. I don't know how Elsgoltia is common in other regions of Russia mentioned above, but in Western Siberia, if it is found, it is very rare. At least, in nature, I have not met it, and I have not found it on the pages of the directory "Keys to plants of the Tomsk region."

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They may object to me: "It's unprecedented, you never know weeds spread all over the world!" But the fact of the matter is that Elsgoltia is not a weed, but a valuable aromatic and medicinal plant. In some countries of Western Europe, it is cultivated on plantations, for example, in Austria and the Czech Republic.

Yes, and in the former USSR, Elsgoltia was recognized as a promising essential oil crop for the creation of plantations. The plant got its name in honor of the court physician in Berlin - Elsholz (1624-1688), and the widespread species was named Elsholzia Patran (E. Patrinii) after the botanist who first described it in 1865.

Elsgolzia is an annual herb 60-80 cm high. The plant with a branched tetrahedral stem and ovoid serrated leaves looks like a miniature tree. It is especially beautiful at the time of flowering, when it is completely covered with one-sided spike-shaped inflorescences of lilac flowers, hanging at the ends of the branches like earrings. On fine July and August days, a bee hum can be heard from afar; Elsgolzia is a wonderful honey plant.

From a distance you can also feel the aroma of the whole plant (not just flowers), in contrast to all kinds of mint, the smell of which you feel only after you rub the leaf in your fingers. This aroma is completely specific, refreshing - it is not for nothing that Elsholtia is called winter mint in Siberia. The specificity of the aroma is due to essential oil (the content of which reaches 0.6% of the raw mass of raw materials - inflorescences, leaves and stems of the upper part of the plant) and, in particular, its main components - Elsholz ketone and sequiterpenes.

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Elsgolzia Patrena is very popular in the medicine of the peoples of Asia. In Tibet, the herb is used in the treatment of tuberculosis. In China and Korea, it is used as a diaphoretic and hemostatic agent, as well as a diuretic for edema and dropsy.

In Altai, where it is especially abundant, the infusion (1 tablespoon per glass of boiling water, which is the daily dose) is taken for pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis, jaundice, kidney stones, hemorrhoids, inflammation of the lymph nodes, for diarrhea and cramps in the abdominal cavity, for pain in the spleen and bladder, to stimulate appetite.

Outwardly, the infusion is used for washing ulcers, wounds, mouthwash for stomatitis, toothache and sore throat. Tea made from dry leaves of Elsgoltia is drunk for anemia and to improve heart function in tachycardia. To give a pleasant specific aroma, dry spikelets are added to various herbal teas. In cooking, dry leaves and inflorescences are used as a fragrant seasoning.

It is not difficult to grow this unpretentious plant on your site. In early spring (Elsgoltsia is not afraid of frost), it is necessary to sow seeds to a depth of 0.5 cm after 25-30 cm on a garden bed with ordinary garden soil, weed the weeds until the plants are strong and … that's it! It remains only at the time of flowering to cut off the upper part (20 cm) of the plants, dry in 2-3 days in the attic and store in paper bags in a dry room. Just a few plants from an area of one square meter will satisfy the family's need for aromatic medicinal raw materials for 1-2 years, and seeds collected from several spikelets will last for several years (germination remains up to 5 years).

Unfortunately, Elsholtia seeds are not available for sale. I will gladly help to acquire its seeds to everyone who wishes to grow this valuable and unpretentious medicinal plant. They, as well as seeds of more than 200 other rare medicinal, spicy, plants, vegetables and flowers, can be ordered from the catalog, which I will send free of charge in your marked envelope.