Clinging bedragger (also known as velcro, scab or chain) is used in folk medicine to treat many ailments. Although it is a weed, healers have long been harvesting it during flowering to prepare their potions. Used internally as a decoction for the treatment of diseases of the liver, kidneys, intestinal tract. Infusions and ointments based on it were used for various skin diseases, and ulcers and wounds were sprinkled with powder.
Characteristic
Clinging bedstraw (Galium aparine L.) is an annual herbaceous type plant from the Marenova family. The root system is pivotal. The stem of an adult plant is tetrahedral. If there is a support nearby, the bedstraw clings to it during intensive growth, rising up. In an open area, the stalk is still. The leaves are wedge-shaped, lanceolate with a sharpening. They are collected in whorls of 6-8 pieces. Above, the leaves and stem along the edges are covered with spikes with downward curved edges and stiff bristles. These features make the whole plant very tenacious.
Blossoms from May to the end of June. Fruits from mid-summer to early September. Small flowers on the stalk in the form of a thorn. White corolla petals. It forms a small (1.5–3 mm) oblong nut-shaped fruit. They can be up to 500 pcs per plant. The surface of the fetus is bristly, its color is gray-brown. The seed resembles a flattened nut in shape. It remains viable in soil for up to 5 years. It can grow from a depth of 6 cm.
Spread
A saber is common everywhere. You can find it in forests, plantations, meadows, along roads and railway embankments. It grows in the middle of the bush and in the open. Clogs gardens and orchards. It prefers fertile soils with good moisture. It grows intensively on such soil, branches and exhibits high-level ecological plasticity.
The plant is aggressive, clings to the adjacent species with bristles and hooks on the leaves, branches and often suppresses them with its growth. Crops of winter cereals and spring crops under its weight lie down, which complicates their harvesting.
The first shoots under favorable conditions may appear by the end of September. They winter well and actively grow with the onset of heat. Seeds lying under the snow sprout depending on the region in March or April.
Tender stalk: control measures
Propagated by seeds. Therefore, the best protection against infection of the site is cleaning the seed at the harvesting stage or during storage. Sowing material from bedding seeds is separated quite well. Autumn seedlings of this weed that overwintered and appeared early in spring in cultivated crops are destroyed by harrowing.
March and April shoots in most cases are destroyed by tillage before sowing the main crops. In row crops, the main measures to combat it are agricultural technology. High resistance of the weed to herbicides of groups 2,4-D and 2M-4X, used in the processing of grain crops, was noticed. There is a positive experience in dealing with bedstraws with soil preparations such as Simazin, Prometrin, Dialen, and also when treated with a mixture of herbicides based on propionic acid.
The properties
The chemical composition is not well studied, since the plant is not used in official medicine. There is evidence that it contains saponins, as well as gallic, citric and rubichloric acids, monotropin, flavonoids, vitamin C, hydrocarbons and other active compounds. Of the trace elements present zinc, copper, iron, boron, strontium and others.
The sticky bed has a strong astringent property due to the presence of tannin in its grass. Its diuretic and choleretic effect is also noted. It can soften infiltrates, exhibits weak analgesic, antispasmodic, febrile and hemostatic properties. Its positive activity was noted during wound healing, as well as to alleviate conditions with snake bites. There is evidence of its effectiveness in the treatment of ulcers, rashes, and dermatomycoses.
Clinging bed: application
The aerial part of the plant is used. Harvesting is carried out during flowering. The grass is dried in the sun, and then dried in the shade. Finished raw materials must be stored in tightly sealed containers. The yield of dry grass is up to 25%.
Tenacious properties of a sticky bed are used in the treatment of diseases of the kidneys, liver, urinary music and bile, skin diseases, and in the healing of wounds and ulcers. In folk medicine, it is used for malignant neoplasms, hardening of the glands, and goiter.
They are used in the form of a decoction, water or alcohol infusion, ointments are prepared from juice and oil, and the wounds are sprinkled with dry powder. External use is recommended for skin diseases for compresses, baths and baths. Rubbing with tincture helps with arthritis and rheumatism. Inside, in the form of tea and in the composition of fees used for catarrh of the gastrointestinal tract. Tincture is used for cystitis, urinary retention and insomnia. Traditional healers used fresh juice to treat epilepsy and cancer.
Clinging bed is considered a conditionally poisonous plant, so care should be taken when dosing, especially when taking its preparations inside.