Many city dwellers at least once in their life had a desire to escape from the hustle and bustle of civilization. The resort areas of Turkey or Egypt, with their incredibly fast pace of life, are clearly not suitable for a tired person. I would like to find some peaceful place where there is no electricity, the mobile phone does not work, transport and other “charms” of civilization do not flash before my eyes. A pine forest is perfect for this purpose (the photo below shows it in all its glory).
Panacea for all diseases
Most people use the pine forest only as a source of Christmas trees, without even realizing how much benefit it brings to all of humanity. This is a great place for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the lungs and nervousness. The air here is several times cleaner than in a hospital operating room. And this is due to the fact that all trees secrete such a substance as volatile. Deciduous plants can secrete close to two kilograms of these compounds per day, and conifers - up to five. Phytoncides are especially active in sunny weather. Pine forest can be called sterile, because there is practically no dust. It settles on the resinous bark and branches, and is washed off to the ground with rain. Incidentally, during World War II, field hospitals were often set up in coniferous forests . In pine, spruce, juniper groves, open-air operations were carried out, and there was not a single case of infection. Here, the air is so saturated with essential oils that the wounds healed almost before our eyes. But that is not all. It turns out that coniferous forest helps even from a hangover! Clean air helps eliminate headaches, but overdoing is still not recommended, as oversaturation with oxygen can occur. In everything you need to know the measure. And the pine forest is especially useful for patients with tuberculosis.
Natural first aid kit
Here you can collect and cook a lot of natural and environmentally friendly medicines. For centuries, people have been using alcohol tinctures on the pollen of coniferous trees. Pine gum perfectly heals wounds and cracks in the skin. With rheumatism, it is recommended to use an infusion of pine buds. Young needles help in the fight against scurvy. While English and Spanish sailors lost because of her up to 70 percent of the crew, Siberian sailors did not even know about the existence of such a disease. To make a vitamin cocktail, you need to pour four glasses of fresh (preferably young) needles with water (three glasses), let it brew, and then you can drink one hundred milliliters twice a day. Pine cones help to rehabilitate well after strokes, and all due to the fact that they contain a large number of tannins.
"Immortal life"
If we summarize the beneficial effects of needles, wood and bark, it turns out that the pine forest is able to control cholesterol, prevent heart disease, and increase immunity. In addition, various coniferous tinctures contribute to the normalization of metabolism and, consequently, weight loss. Scientists have discovered that pine wood contains a substance such as DHA (dehydroquercetin), which is able to bind free radicals of cells. The use of DHA leads to an improvement in the condition of the skin, prolonging its youth and general healing of the body. Our country is very lucky that so many pine, spruce and other coniferous forests grow on its territory. After all, the extraction of dehydroquercetin from other raw materials, for example, from rose petals, grape seeds, citrus fruits, is a very expensive task. DHA today has no analogues in terms of biological activity.
Pine forest plants
The crown of the pine is relatively loose, openwork, as a result of which it transmits a lot of light. Therefore, in such forests there is no strong shading, which contributes to the development of a completely different plant community than in spruce and deciduous forests. Plants of the lower tiers receive enough light for their development. However, there is much less moisture in the pine trees; this microclimate determines the biogeocenosis of the pine forest. Depending on the type of soil, various representatives of the flora will dominate here. So, on very poor and dry sandstones, lichens are spread under carpets under the trees. On moist, but poor soils, bilberry thickets are most often present. In forests located on fairly fatty soils of medium humidity (that is, with abundant nutrient content), sour acid grows. In pine trees, the land is often covered with a moss carpet, against which grasses and shrubs feel good: blueberries, lingonberries, plunds, pear trees and others.
Lichen pine forest
Very different from other pine forests is a forest that grows on especially poor and dry soils. The trees here are quite low, oppressed, they rarely grow. There is especially a lot of light in such a forest. Therefore, plants that are unusual for spruce and deciduous plantings are common here. For example, heather is found here - it is a low shrub that attracts attention at the end of summer with its unusually beautiful flowering. It is densely covered with very small pink and lilac flowers, and a magical, fabulous setting is created in the forest. In dry pine forests, low grass is common - a cat's paw, it has leaves with a bluish, silver tint. It blooms in small buds-baskets of white or pink. White lichen, one of the subspecies of deer moss, is also well developed here .
Oilfields and greenfinch - the eternal companions of the pine forest
As already mentioned, pine grows mainly on poor sandy soils. This affects the types of mushrooms that can be found in it. But their number is affected by the age of the forest. So, in young animals, starting from the second year, the first butterflies appear, they grow in the grass under separate trees or between rows. The yield of this fungus increases annually and reaches its peak in 10-15 years, then begins to decline. When the pine forest grows, greenfinch appears here. This fungus grows in large groups, but solitary specimens are also found. Most often, greenfinchs can be found in lowlands - in young growth, middle-aged and adult forests.
Other mushrooms
Oilfields and greenfinchs are the most productive, but they are not the only mushrooms of pine forests. On flat places you can find gray row, white mushroom and its variety (it has a yellow-brown hat and a relatively thin cylindrical leg.) In young growth , autumn mushrooms, or real ones , abundantly bear fruit. They grow families on stumps or around trunks. Also in the young pine forest, saffron mushrooms are found, growing in groups in moist lowlands and on clearings. In the damp forests, goats and mossy birds, russula swamps, gray-pink lactacs have taken root. In autumn, in the moderately humid groves black loads may occur . And in the forest glades and edges you can find a real delicacy - the fungus Umbrella motley.
If other tree species are present along with pines, the variety of mushrooms will increase significantly. Brown boletuses, and bruises, and Russula, and Volzhanka, and black breasts, and many others may appear.
Poisonous mushrooms
Pale grebes and fly agarics — panther, grebe and red — are very common in pine forests. Around the dried trees, on stumps, poisonous false-yellow-gray-yellow plants grow in large groups. In the pine forests overgrown with grass, govorushki are scattered in large quantities. Among them are both edible and poisonous species.
Animal world
The largest inhabitants of the pine forest are artiodactyls (wild boars, moose, deer). The most common are deer - very beautiful and relatively gullible animals. They may differ depending on the place of residence in body size, as well as the structure of the horns. The next representatives of the fauna are bears. These animals are the most famous forest inhabitants, not without reason they are called the symbol of the forest. Many legends and fairy tales are composed about them. However, today, due to the intense hunting for them, clubfoots have become quite rare. This king of the forest can only feel safe in protected areas. We have listed only the most prominent inhabitants, but not all. Ask the child who lives in the forest, and he will call you a fox, wolf, hare, be sure to hedgehog. All these are animals of a pine forest. Of the most famous birds, one should mention magpie and, of course, capercaillie, and there are others, and quite a lot. The most important thing is to find time to learn more about them. Well, it’s best to go to the pine forest yourself, breathe clean and healing air and just relax in peace and quiet. It should be remembered that the forest is not only a house for animals, but also the lungs of our planet. And for a knowledgeable person, he will become a friend, assistant, pantry and pharmacy.
Take care of the forest!