Elderberry grass is not only an ornamental shrub that can decorate your garden. It is also useful berries that are widely used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. We suggest you find out why elderberry is needed, what planting and care for this plant, as well as recipes for medicinal preparations and tinctures.
General information
Elderberry grassy is a perennial reaching a height of 60 to 150 centimeters. Has direct branched stems and pinnate leaves. Flowering occurs in the month of June-July. The flowers of black elderberry are very small and gather in white inflorescences. In the middle there are red stamens. Inflorescences are quite large (up to 20 centimeters in diameter), rounded in shape. In August-September, black berries ripen.
Landing and care
Elderberry grassy - unpretentious plant. She feels great in the shade, tolerates frosty winters, lends herself to curly trim. The only requirement for a good crop is drained soil. Therefore, you should always monitor the moisture level at the landing site.
If the soil is poor in minerals, it is recommended to make fertilizers and fertilizing. The best time for this is the beginning of the growing season. Elderberry is resistant to pests and diseases. But there is a small risk of aphids and ticks.
Propagation of elderberry grassy occurs in a vegetative way and cuttings. In the first method, aboveground shoots, root offspring, other parts of the bush, underground creeping rhizomes are disconnected from the bush. In the case of cuttings, in June-July, branches from 8 to 12 cm in length should be cut from elderberry.
Elderberry grass - application
This perennial is used as an ornamental plant and for medicinal purposes. Black elderberry flowers, berries, rhizome, leaves, bark, twigs - all are used to create various decoctions, infusions and preparations.
Perennial has unique healing properties. It can be combined with other plants, enhancing the health-friendly effect. Berries can also be eaten unprocessed. But at the same time it is necessary to observe precautions, because with an overabundance of them in the body, poisoning can occur.
The healing properties of elderberry
There are two main areas in which elderberry is used. The healing properties of this perennial are most manifested when used as a diuretic or to lower blood sugar. Therefore, various decoctions are recommended for use in diseases of the kidneys, ascites, and diabetes.
Elderberry preparations can also be used to treat constipation, obesity, back pain, gastritis and digestive disorders, colds. There are excellent folk recipes for the prevention of influenza and increase immunity.
Recipes of infusions and decoctions
- Infusion of elderberry and other plants from edema, polyarthritis and gout. Make a mixture of the dried flowers of the common leafy meadowsweet (10 grams), the root of the grass elderberry (15 grams), the bean leaves (15 grams), common knotweed (10 grams), the horsetail (10 grams), the colors of the blue cornflower (10 grams), the columns corn (15 grams), bearberry leaves (15 grams) and birch buds (15 grams). Pour four tablespoons with one liter of water and let it brew for twelve hours. Before use, boil for five minutes and cool a little. Drink half a cup four times a day half an hour after a meal.
- With hemorrhoids. Make an infusion of eight leaves of grass elderberry, one tablespoon of sage and one glass of boiling water. Let it all stand for one hour and add another teaspoon of honey. You need to take half a glass a day for a month.
- For diseased joints, with gout, arthritis, neuralgia, paralysis. Boil black elderberry and chamomile flowers. Dampen the dressing in this broth and apply a compress to the affected areas of the body.
- For the treatment of radiculitis. Allow one hour to boil in boiling water (0.5 liters) elderberry flowers (1.5 tablespoons). You need to take the tincture in half a glass three to five times a day before eating. The term of treatment is ten days, then you need to take a break.
- With insomnia and headache. Take a decoction of the roots and flowers of black elderberry.
- With various gastric diseases and atherosclerosis. Make a decoction of the bark and take it for the night.
- With rashes on the skin. Make a decoction of the bark, flowers and berries of black elderberry and take a bath in it.
For the prevention of colds and flu
Dry the black elderberry flowers and add them to tea to protect yourself from the common cold or as an adjuvant for the flu. For three teaspoons of tea leaves you need one teaspoon of flowers.
For dessert, you can make elderberry syrup. For this, perennial berries are blanched and 1.4 kilograms of sugar are added per liter of juice. The syrup needs to be boiled for a long time to make it thick. Use it to make sauces, jellies, as toppings for ice cream, pancakes, cakes.
For those who love homemade wine, elderberry is also useful. The medicinal properties in wine do not lose perennial berries, and the drink itself turns out to be very tasty.
Recipe for making wine:
- Take two liters of apple juice, ten liters of black elderberry, one kilogram of sugar.
- Mash the berries.
- Add juice and sugar.
- Move everything and leave to roam for five to six days.
- Then strain the drink, squeeze the juice and bottle everything. The container must be closed with a cork and fixed with wire (following the example of champagne).
- Bottles are placed in a cold room (cellar, basement).
Contraindications
Eating black elderberry is strictly forbidden to pregnant and lactating children up to twelve years old. It is not recommended to drink decoctions and infusions from this perennial for people with impaired gastrointestinal tract.
There is also a risk of poisoning if you use elderberry in excess of the amount specified in the recipes.