Narrow-leaved sucker is a shrub with which almost all people living in Russia are familiar. But few people know its real name, as well as its significance for industry and economy. In everyday life, this deciduous tree is often called "olives" because of its peculiar fruits, really resembling the fruits of an olive tree.
Narrow-leaved shrub
The plant reaches seven to ten meters in height. The leaves have a characteristic appearance, because of which it is easy to recognize - they are elongated, silver, covered with characteristic scales (they also cover fruits and young shoots). A plant native to Asia, but over the past hundred years has become popular in Russia and Ukraine. It can be found everywhere in plantings, forest belts, gardens and parks. Shrubs are widely used for landscaping, they plant a highway and railways. Narrow-leaved sucker blooms in June. Elliptical yellowish fruits with a reddish tint
edible form. They contain
tannins and organic acids. It is because of them that the goof tree is so useful. Fruits can be eaten not only as a treat, they are valuable as a folk remedy for
indigestion (jelly and porridge are cooked from them). On an industrial scale, alcohol is obtained from them. In Central Asia and the Caucasus, the astringent properties of the fruits of the sucker are used, preparing the Pshatin product from it, drying them and grinding them into flour. Shrub wood is used for furniture production as a material for turning and
joinery. Also, the trunks emit gum, it is used for the manufacture of paints in the textile industry. Narrow-leaved goose has nodules on the roots, in which nitrogenous compounds are formed that fertilize the soil. This plant is also useful as a source of essential oil (it is extracted from flowers) and as a honey plant. Sucker flowers are used in folk medicine for edema,
heart disease, colitis, as an anthelmintic. Leaves are used to heal wounds, relieve rheumatic pains, with gout.
Shrub goof silver
This is a low tree with pointed leaves and dark shoots. Its flowering lasts longer than that of the next of kin, the narrow-leaved sucker, from May to July. Originally from North America. Under natural conditions, grows in marshy areas along the banks of rivers. Its fruits are used in the same way as in the previous species. They ripen in August or September, the taste is slightly sweet. A silver goof grows slowly, often only ten years after planting begins to bear fruit. It is an excellent honey plant, like almost all species from the genus Suckers. This flowering shrub is unpretentious, grows in partial shade without any problems, soil fertility has practically no significance for it, just like its moisture content. Easily tolerates harsh winters and decorative pruning. The silver goof is propagated by basal shoots or by dividing the bush. It is good in mixed plantings, looks great next to red-leaved plants and conifers.