The school curriculum provides for the study of wildlife in the lessons of familiarization with the outside world, natural science, biology. As part of familiarizing themselves with the life of the flora, children will learn what cultivated and wild plants are. The name of the groups becomes clear after the children are informed about the conditions for the growth of the species. Deepening and expanding the concept occurs due to familiarization with how a person uses plants belonging to a particular group.
Cultivated and wild plants. Names
Grade 2 of a comprehensive school is the period when children begin to receive systematic knowledge about objects of animate and inanimate nature. An earlier study of the subject is propaedeutic in nature. But already in the second grade, for example, such concepts as cultivated and wild plants are introduced.
The name of the groups becomes clear to children after completing the exercises, where it is proposed to compare the pairs of plants. For example, spruce and apple, birch and plum, gooseberries and junipers, tomatoes and coltsfoot, peas and chicory. The teacher suggests that children pay attention to where the species being compared grow, what conditions are necessary for them, who cares for them.
After the work done, children easily come to the conclusion that all plants are divided into two large groups. Those that people care for are called cultural. Wild plants got their name due to the fact that they grow everywhere. For their development, maturation, fruiting does not require human intervention.
The main differences between wild plants and cultural
Certain conditions are necessary for the growth and development of plants. Cultural species such conditions creates a person. He is looking for a favorable place for planting plants, fertilizes them, removes weeds, harvests, protects from pests and diseases.
Wild plants, whose name can be found in numerous directories, do not need to create special conditions. They themselves adapt to life in the wild.
Reasons for classification
Wild plants, whose names and photos are so familiar to us, appeared on Earth much earlier than cultivated species. In other words, initially the planet was inhabited only by wild plants. It was they who gave the ancient man food, shelter, clothing, tools.
Engaged in gathering, people gained experience, thanks to which they appreciated the positive properties of the roots, leaves, stems, fruits of some plants. Gradually, a person learned to grow the most useful species for himself next to his own home and use the results of his labor for a longer period of time than it was during gathering. So cultivated plant varieties began to appear, as a result of the care of which their taste and other qualities improved.
Wild plants, the names of which are well known, are divided into groups. Scientists distinguish among them herbs, trees, shrubs. For example, one can easily determine to which group nettle, chamomile, birch, hazel, rye, cornflower belong. It must be said that cultivated plants are also divided into similar groups .
Natural areas and plant distribution
The species diversity with which wild plants are represented, their names and importance in economic activity are directly related to the area of the Earth where they grow.
The abundance of food and medicinal wild plant species is noted in tropical and subtropical humid climates. In the tundra and forest-tundra zones, the species
diversity of plants is more scarce, but large stocks, for example, mosses, lichens used in various sectors of the economy, can be concentrated here. Herbaceous and shrubby plants that give a good harvest of berries are also not uncommon in the harsh northern regions.
Wild plants: human value
Wild plants, examples whose names are given in school textbooks and additional reference books, have a lot of substances useful for the human body. Today, the study of this group for the content of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and vegetable oils is ongoing.
Since ancient times, man has been searching for ways to consume wild plants for food. Since ancient times, picking berries of strawberries, blueberries, blueberries, cranberries and many others has been common. Fruits, leaves, stems are used both fresh and in processed form.
Healing properties
Among medicinal raw materials, wild plants occupy a special place. The names and significance of medicines made on the basis of herbs, parts of trees and shrubs growing in the wild have been actively created and studied recently, and their list has expanded significantly. Traditional healers have rich experience in using wild plants as medicines.
However, the number of flora representatives fully studied and used by humans as part of pharmaceutical preparations is only 4% of the total number of species that are wild plants. The names of new species regularly replenish this list.
It should be noted that more than half of the raw materials intended for pharmaceutical production is supplied through the collection of medicinal plants in nature. Only a small part of them are cultivated.
Rules for the collection of raw materials
When collecting medicinal and food wild plants, it is imperative to follow the rules, due to which it is possible to exclude the facts of poisoning or other negative effects on the body. Only well-known plant species are allowed to be collected. Those of them that cause doubt in appearance, the rules of use, are not subject to collection. The aerial parts of plants are usually harvested before flowering. At this time, the shoots and leaves are more tender, do not contain hazardous compounds. It is recommended that plants be harvested in clear weather in the afternoon, when moistening with dew is ruled out.
It is forbidden to collect plants along roads, near landfills, gutters or industrial facilities. Combustion products and dust containing hazardous substances are collected on their parts.
Harvested raw materials should not be stacked too tightly. This can lead to spoilage of plants. It usually manifests itself in the darkening of their parts. Spiky and burning plants, such as nettles, butiaga, are best collected with gloves. And it’s more convenient to cut off the stiff stems of others with a knife.
Parts of plants with visible damage, such as growths, rust, rot, are not recommended. They may contain substances harmful to human health.