Badan Thick-leaved - A Useful Medicinal And Beautiful Ornamental Plant

2023 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 20:34

The Siberian land is rich in wonderful plants. This is a magic cedar, miraculous roots of maral and golden, wild garlic … But, perhaps, our Siberian badan should be put first in this list! Big-leaved bergenia (Bergenia crassifolia) grows in Siberia. In the mountains of southern Siberia - in Altai, in the Sayan Mountains, the Baikal region, Northern Mongolia, it forms continuous thickets - badanniks - with an area of several square kilometers. This is a very frost-hardy and unpretentious plant, it can grow in the most unfavorable conditions, it is found, for example, on char, in rock crevices, along stony and gravelly talus on slopes with a steepness of up to 40o.

It is a perennial herb with a long, thick branched surface rhizome, from which adventitious roots extend. And dark green leaves on thick stalks also extend right from the root. They are oval, leathery and therefore shiny, wintering green. The leaves are very large - you can hardly cover it with two palms. Bell-shaped, rather large (1-1.5 cm in diameter) flowers of 50 or more pieces are collected in large paniculate inflorescences at the tops of stems up to 70 cm high. The color of their corolla in nature varies greatly, and in different specimens it can be lilac, lilac, pink of varying intensity. They bloom from the beginning of May for more than a month.

Under natural conditions, badan prefers poor soils with a slightly acidic reaction. It is not picky about light: it grows both under the canopy of a forest and in open areas, both on light and shady slopes. Badan is a very resistant plant. It can grow alone in community with other plants, but more often forms extensive thickets - badanniki.

Badan is very durable. Scientists have found centenary specimens in nature. Badan branches very strongly. One perennial plant can occupy an area of several square meters, and the total length of its branched rhizome is more than ten meters.

In nature, it propagates by seeds and vegetatively. The seeds do not ripen annually, since, due to early flowering, sometimes flowers are damaged by recurrent frosts. Seeds are small, dark brown. They do not germinate well in badanniks because of the high competition and strong shading of the soil, much better in open areas, and under laboratory conditions their germination is very high - up to 80%. Apparently, this property is inherent in nature for the survival of the species in the competitive struggle with other plants. Badan reproduces much better vegetatively. Due to its strong branching, it displaces other plants, since they cannot withstand competition under the dense canopy of its leaves, moreover, the soil surface under the incense is covered with a thick layer of dead, but not decaying leaves for a long time. Moreover, it not only captures the surrounding space,but also extends to areas that are quite remote from the mother bush. Its young horns with a rosette of leaves for some time, until they have released adventitious roots, can break off and move along the scree along with melting snow, water streams over considerable distances and take root in a new place.

Although the plant as a whole is evergreen, each leaf lives for a little over a year. In spring, after flowering, 3-4 young leaves grow at the ends of the shoots. During the growing season, last year's leaves, located closer to the root, gradually die off - at first they lose their elasticity and lie down, then they turn yellow-brown, but the petioles remain attached to the root. And only after overwintering, they fall off, turn black-brown and remain lying for another 2-3 years before they rot. Such leaves, which have undergone natural fermentation, are used to brew delicious healing tea, which in Siberia is called Mongolian or Chigir tea. It is necessary to brew such tea longer (at least 20 minutes, bring to a boil 2-3 times, but do not boil)

Rhizomes and leaves of badan are a real storehouse of healing substances. They contain up to 27% tannins. In terms of tannin content, it surpasses the usual black tea for us. The leaves contain up to 22% arbutin, ecdysterone, vitamin C, phytoncides, significant amounts of manganese, iron, copper and other trace elements. The rhizomes contain bergenin, dextrin, flavonoids, flobaphenes, starch, sucrose, essential oil, resinous and other useful substances.

Badan has long been grown in garden plots. The resettlement from the mountains to the plains he endured painlessly due to his exceptional unpretentiousness. It is better to take a place for him half-shaded under the canopy of trees, with drained soil. Moisture-loving bergenia would rather prefer drought than stagnant water. It will endure drought thanks to leathery leaves and a powerful rhizome, but if there is no flooding, it will sweep away. Despite the undemandingness of badan to the soil, it must be borne in mind that it can grow in one place for many years, so it is better for him to provide a plot with fertile soil in the garden - the plants will be more powerful and grow faster. Under my rowan, a fifteen-year-old bush occupies an area with a diameter of two meters.

You can sow before winter and early spring. Seeds do not need stratification, but those sown before winter sprout more amicably. When sown in spring, they sprout up a month later, and can only emerge a year later. By the way, germination lasts two years. It is necessary to sow to a depth of 1 cm. Bergenia seedlings develop rather slowly. In the first year, a rosette of 4-5 medium-sized leaves grows, which must be covered in the first winter. The next year, the leaves grow larger, the root begins to branch. Plants begin to bloom from 3-4 years.

Rhizomes and leaves of bergenia can be harvested at any time. They are washed in cold water (not soaking!), The rhizomes are cut into thin rings, the leaves are spread in a thin layer and dried in a warm room until brittle (2-3 weeks). Immediately after drying, the leaves are crushed - they crumble well in the hands. Raw materials retain their properties in paper bags for four years.

Unfortunately, badan is rarely found in garden centers, and its seeds are not available at all. To everyone who wishes to grow this valuable medicinal and ornamental plant on their site, I will gladly send the roots and seeds of badan. They, as well as planting material for maral root, Rhodiola, wild garlic, Siberian kandyk, God's tree, Kuril tea, golden currant and more than 200 other rare medicinal, spicy plants, vegetables, flowers and shrubs can be ordered from the catalog. It is enough to send a marked envelope - you will receive the catalog in it for free. My address: 634024, Tomsk, st. 5th Army, 29-33, mob. t. 8913-8518-103 - Gennady Pavlovich Anisimov. The catalog can also be obtained by e-mail - send a request to E-mail: [email protected]. The catalog can be found on the site