Clefthoof - An Evergreen Unusual Plant - Will Decorate The Shady Places Of Your Garden

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

Winter green azarum

In early spring, when most of the plants have not yet woken up after the snow melts, you will suddenly see the fresh and vigorous green of the winter-green azarum plant

preserved after the severe frosts. As if having just washed his face with melt water, he is flawless surrounded by other plants that survived the winter.

Heuchera, tiarella, sedums, succulent lingonberry and bearberry leaves shone even brighter next to him. Paired leathery, horse-like, asarum leaves, not damaged, not beaten by the most severe frosts. They are spread widely, freely and look like a living greeting of spring.

As the sun shines warmer and brighter, whitish spots appear here and there on the round leaf plates of azarum, gloss, gloss on the brown face disappears. Overwintered leaves age and fall. But, having lost its luxurious foliage, the plant hastily acquires a new one. These decorative leaves are similar in shape to the leaves of cyclamens, have a heart-shaped or hoof-shaped shape, which is why in our country this plant is called a hoof. Popular: European hoof, tailed, Siebold and Canadian. Some species have glossy leaves, others have exquisite texture, and few are strikingly silvery in color. They also differ in the size of the leaves.

In nature, the gingerbread grows in deciduous and mixed forests, in alder thickets in Europe, America and Australia. Hence the other name of this plant - "podleshnik".

Belongs to

Clefthoofto a small family of Kirkazonovs. All hoofs are undersized (7-12 cm tall), herbaceous perennial rosette plants with creeping branchy rhizomes. The leaves are connected in pairs on a thin curving stem and hide a small, bell-shaped chestnut or dirty purple spring flower of an original, unusual shape. The tips of the petals are drawn back. Inside the flower there are 12 very thin stamens arranged in a ring around the column. Azarum blooms in early spring. Since drooping clefthoof flowers are almost pressed to the ground, they are easily accessible to ants and flies. And as a result of this, the hoof gets help in time in the most important life process - pollination. The fruit capsule appears in summer; there is a small remnant of the perianth at its apex. The seeds have fleshy outgrowths, thanks to which they are dispersed by ants.

Although edible, asarum roots are rarely used in cooking. Serve as a substitute for fresh and dry ginger. In the west, the clefthoof is called wild ginger. Young clefthoof leaves are added to salads as a seasoning. But since the plant contains the toxin azorone (from the Greek word "aseron" - disgust, nausea, as it causes nausea), from which the botanical name for clefthoof comes from, it is poisonous. Therefore, the economic use of azarum is limited.

An interesting feature: if the leaves of the clefthoof are rubbed in the hand, then a pungent smell resembling turpentine immediately appears. Perhaps this is where the common nickname “turpentine” and “earthen incense” came from. This smell is associated with an essential oil that contains azorone. Animals should not be grazed in places where the clefthoof grows, in order to avoid severe poisoning. The clefthoof is especially poisonous for horses. Signs of poisoning are vomiting and nausea.

At the same time, gingerbread is a useful plant and is used in large doses in medicine in a number of countries as a diuretic and antipyretic medicine, as well as a means of stimulating digestion, calming, regulating heart activity, and anti-sclerotic. It is included in the pharmacopoeia of Germany, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland.

In folk medicine, the drug is prepared from rhizomes infused in water or boiled in goat milk. Powdered leaves are used as an emetic. Novgorod peasants call the European hoof just "the vomit root".

Asarum leaf powder was used in ancient times as snuff. In Siberia, this plant is often called "secret". Water vapor from the clefthoof together with the flowers of the immortelle is considered to heal from jaundice.

Leaves and roots are widely used in veterinary practice. Infusions of clefthoof remove scabies and lichens in horses.

In Tibetan medicine, Siebold's hoof is highly regarde

there it is called "mountain ginseng". In the Caucasus, among the beech forests, the Georgian hoof grows, which also has medicinal properties.

In our time, the clefthoof is practically not used in official Russian medicine. But it is successfully used in homeopathic and traditional medicine.

Medical scientists, as a result of research on the clefthoof, established the presence of glycosides, alkaloids, essential oils, saponins and other useful substances in it. Revealed a very high antibacterial activity, a positive effect on cardiac activity, on the treatment of rheumatism and bronchial asthma, leukopenia, dropsy, tuberculosis, scrofula, as well as efficiency in the expulsion of worms.

European Clefthoof gives a valuable dye of light brown color.

It should be noted that the clefthoof is a suitable ornamental plant for our gardens. It gives shine to dull and dark places where nothing can grow. This is a favorite of gardeners, requiring little worries.

The clefthoof is propagated by dividing the rhizomes in spring and autumn. Cut off part of the rhizome with a couple or two leaves. Plant the cuttings 2 to 3 cm deep in prepared nutrient soil, enriched with compost or improved with other organic material. Plant the cuttings at a distance of 30 cm from each other. Propagation by cuttings can be carried out as soon as new leaves grow, that is, in June. Sow clefthoof seeds in spring.

All wild hooves love organic-rich, slightly acidic, moist and well-drained soil. Therefore, the place of azarum is in shady, humid places. This deciduous ornamental plant looks good in group plantings.

The hoof is popular with gardeners because of its beautiful leaves, they love it for its winter hardiness, shade tolerance, which is essential for shady and wooded places. In the garden the clefthoof grows slowly but surely. The original dark green leaf plates from 5 to 15 cm in diameter with a cutout at the cutting densely cover the soil surface with a continuous carpet up to 15 cm. Azarum forms ground cover clumps of various densities, free from weeds. They are especially attractive next to large stones. On my site, the clefthoof beautifully covered the entire area around the large bushes of rhododendrons, preventing the growth of weeds there.

Tamara Barkhatova