Pine is the most valuable conifer on the territory of the Russian state. Its height reaches up to 40 meters. The trunk is strong, visible among other woody plants with its brown color. The base of the pine is covered with a thicker bark. This is not accidental in nature.
The density of the bark performs the protective function of the plant. Thus, the coniferous beauty is saved in the summer from overheating and from emerging fires. Outwardly, the pine looks like a really chic tree. Her needles attract attention with its rich green color.
It is collected in numerous bundles of 2-3 needles and reaches a length of 4 to 7 centimeters. The needles themselves are elegant, have a noticeable longitudinal strip. In the autumn, a certain proportion of coniferous needles falls.
The remainder is covered with a layer of wood wax. The stomata of the needles close, thereby stopping breathing. This allows you to save power tree for the entire winter period. What else is interesting coniferous beauty?
Pine cones. Photos of interesting fruits
It is difficult to find a person who does not know that cones grow on a pine tree. Their size can be compared with a large walnut. If the bump is old, then it is brown. It is woody to the touch, and its scales are friable and clatter in different directions.
Few people know that pine is among the oldest trees. An ordinary cone with seeds inside is the fruit of an evergreen plant. Female pine fruits are called megastrobiles, male fruits are called microstrobils.
How a lump is born
It all starts with a small ball of red. This is a pine embryo that appears in May, when young shoots begin to break out of the pine from the buds. At the beginning of their development, they are not covered with pine needles.
Instead, you can see the bright processes. In their midst, young fertility begins to develop. A female pine cone develops at the top of a coniferous shoot.
Usually, by the fall, the fruit trees turn green and slightly exceed the size of a pea. About this position the fruits are all winter. In spring, when nature awakens, pine cones continue their development.
Their size in length reaches from 3 to 7 centimeters. By August, fertility reaches its usual size - 10 centimeters in length and 4 centimeters in width. In the spring, the fruits are actively continuing their development.
By the end of summer, pine cones get their adult color - brown. But despite their maturity, fertility has not yet been disclosed. Seeds cannot yet spill out due to tightly pressed scales. But already in this period the density of pine cones is higher than that of fruits of other conifers.
Male and female pine cones
The fruit of the coniferous tree, which is located at the base of the young shoot, is called the male pine cone. Female, as already mentioned, is located at the top of a pine branch. The structure of the cone is simple - the axis with numerous scales. They have ovules, from which the oocytes appear. The common pine begins to bear fruit by 20-30 years.
The male pine cone has the same structure as the female. The only thing on the lower scales of the fetus are two pollen sacs. It is in them that pollen ripening and sperm formation occurs.
Fertilization occurs when pollen from male fruits falls on the female cones of the first year pine. Until this time, pollen is at rest. Only after a year does it form a pollen tube through which sperm tend to archegonia.
One sperm fuses with the egg, resulting in a zygote. Then the embryo begins its development. It is located in a tissue in which many nutrients are accumulated. The tissue itself is called primary endospermia.
Adult fruits
Ripe conifers are ovoid in shape. They are heavier than the female pine cones of the first year. If you push the sticky scales of mature fruit, you can find noticeable thickening of the earthy color.
These are shields with faces bent down. Pine cone seeds have transparent wings with which they are carried by the wind. At first glance, all the fruits of conifers are the same.
But if you look closely, there are differences between the cones. For example, if we compare pine and spruce, then the shape of the first is more rounded. The length of the pine fruit is less than spruce. The density of pine cones is different from the fruit of other conifers. They are heavier than the fruits of spruce or larch.
Where to use pine fruits
The most valuable that coniferous fruit can give is medicinal raw materials. In the circle of folk healers, pine cones prepare balms and tinctures. They make fragrant jam. To do this, collect small green pine cones with a length of not more than 4 centimeters.
It is recommended to stock up with pine fruits from May to June. During the collection should pay attention to the state of the tree itself. If it is affected by insects, it is best not to collect cones from such a pine tree.
Cook jam
In fact, there are several recipes for making a sweet and healthy treat from pine cones. We will consider the most common option. So, first we prepare the ingredients for work.
We will need 1 kg of sugar, 10 glasses of water and 1 kg of cones. We wash the fruits in cold water. Then we put them in a deep container, fill them with water. It should cover the fruit 2 centimeters on top.
Be sure to cover the dishes with a lid and boil the contents for half an hour. Then leave the brew in a dark place for 12 hours. After the mass is infused, it is necessary to separate the cones from the solution.
At this point it will be green. Mix the liquid with sugar in equal proportions. This mass should be cooked over low heat until it begins to spread.
Finally, add a few cones and cook for another 5 minutes. Beautiful and healthy jam is ready! It has a juicy crimson color. It remains to pour the mass into jars and enjoy a delicious delicacy throughout the cold season!
Jam from pine cones is useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and inflammation of the respiratory tract. It is also recommended for people with general exhaustion.
Useful properties of pine cones
In folk medicine, raw materials from coniferous fruit are used for low hemoglobin, polyarthritis, pneumonia, vitamin deficiency, and acute respiratory diseases.
The cone pollen contains essential oil, carotene, ascorbic and resin acids. Due to their medicinal properties, pine fruits are devoted to a large number of medicinal recipes.
For example, with bronchitis and other colds, you should take one tablespoon of crushed cones and pour half a liter of hot water. This tincture should be kept for 12 hours, then drink a little during the day before eating.
Another drug rich in medicinal properties is used for diseases of bones, joints and bronchopulmonary inflammation. Here's how to prepare this tincture: in a suitable container, cut 10 pieces of green cones, pour 1 liter of vodka and close tightly.
Insist should be 40 days, not forgetting to shake. If you do this regularly, then the beneficial properties of the cones saturate the fluid faster. After the expiration date, the resulting preparation is filtered.
The tincture should turn out to be reddish brown. The use of such a medicine is possible not only for ingestion, but also for local grinding.
Coniferous products - first helpers
Pine cone tincture is an excellent cough suppressant. If you have not supplemented them with the course of your treatment, then it's time to do it. To prepare the tincture, you will need to take 50 grams of green pine cones for 2 cups of boiling water.
First, pour the fruit with water, then insist for 2-3 hours in a warm place. Strain the resulting infusion through a gauze filter. If the drug is prepared for a child, then to improve the taste, you can add 500 grams of granulated sugar to the infusion and cook until a viscous syrup is obtained. A delicious and healing drug is ready! It is recommended to take it daily for 5-6 tablespoons.
For those patients who have overcome cough, traditional healers are advised to pour 5 pine cones with a glass of boiling water, cover the infusion with a warm cloth and insist for 40-45 minutes. Take 2-3 sips with a cough that begins.
Also, the therapeutic effect can be obtained using inhalation. To do this, take a spacious dish, boil in it 1 liter of water and add 5-6 previously washed pine cones.
Boil them for 5 minutes over low heat under a closed lid. Then turn off the gas, open the lid, let off steam slightly. Next, you need to bend over the dishes, hiding with a towel.
Take inhalation within 10 minutes. This method works great for nasal congestion, has anti-inflammatory and bactericidal properties.
Healing infusions
For prevention or recovery from a stroke, an infusion of pine gifts helps: five ripe cones pour 250 g of alcohol (70%). Insist 10 days at room temperature, strain and add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to the resulting infusion.
This drug is recommended to be used once after a meal for six months. To relieve swelling of the joints with polyarthritis, you can prepare a bath solution. Take in equal proportions cones, water and boil in a deep container for about half an hour.
Then remove from heat, let the broth brew for 12 hours, strain. It should be a brown liquid with a wonderful coniferous aroma! For the full volume of a standard bath, you need 2 liters of miraculous infusion. It is recommended to take warm baths for 15 to 20 minutes. Such treatment should be continued until the pain syndrome subsides.
The immune system and pine cones
Unfortunately, with age, the human immune system weakens. Increasingly, it is difficult to overcome infectious diseases. The body is aging.
However, scientists believe that the degradation of the immune system can be stopped. It is proved that the extract and decoction of pine cones are able to withstand the influence of harmful viruses and bacteria.
Therefore, these drugs can update the human immune system, allowing him to maintain his body in good shape. Therefore, it is recommended that at least once a year for the prevention of the use of drugs made from pine cones.
Despite their widespread use in traditional medicine, a preliminary consultation with a doctor is still necessary. Contraindications: treatment with pine cones should be taken with caution to those people who suffer from kidney diseases, allergic reactions, pregnant and lactating mothers.
Pine Balm
It is unfair to bypass this medicinal alcohol-containing drink. It is valued as a sedative and tonic. Typically, the balm formulation includes a mixture of various medicinal raw materials.
In this case, we consider the preparation of the drug from pine cones and needles. It should be noted that the manufacture of balm is a laborious process and requires meticulous fulfillment of all requirements. However, if you wish, a balm from coniferous gifts of nature is quite possible to get at home.
So, you should take 3 tablespoons of chopped raw pine cones and 1.5 tablespoons of pine needles. Mix the components, place them in a glass jar and pour 70% alcohol with a volume of 500 milliliters.
Close the container with a tight lid and place in a dark place. After 30 days, strain the resulting infusion, add 2-3 tablespoons of any berry syrup and infuse for about 3 days.
Ideally, you should get an infusion of brown color with a tart taste and a pleasant aroma. It should be noted that all balms are used in a small dosage. Most often they are added 1-2 teaspoons in coffee, tea, mineral water. These are immune-strengthening drugs that have a prophylactic effect against inflammatory and viral diseases.
Interesting about cones
Esoteric fans attribute unusual properties to the fruits of conifers. For example, it is believed that if you keep pine cones in the living room, then the energy of the house is cleaned.
Households are not threatened by evil eye and other negative phenomena. Along with this, the bactericidal properties of coniferous fruits prevent the development of respiratory diseases in people.
And holding a pine cone in your hands for several minutes, you can get rid of the negative energy that has accumulated over the whole day. After that, the pine fruit should be discarded.
It is also nice to apply wonderful coniferous gifts to bruised places. They perfectly stretch the pain. Few people suspect that pine congestion is a great natural massager for the back and feet.
Make it available to everyone! To do this, you need to collect slightly ajar mature pine cones, dry well. Put them in a box and step on them with your feet, sitting on a stool.
By the same principle, you can massage your back. Only the cones should be laid out on the mat, and then lie on them blue. Those whose skin is very sensitive are advised to cover the pine fruits with medium-density fabric.
Pine cones not only in medicine
What wonderful decorations and crafts can be made from pine cones! Nature awarded this fruit a beautiful shape. It remains only to fantasize a bit and discover a great element of decor decoration - pine cones!
The photo clearly demonstrates that the gift of coniferous tree can be covered with gold artistic varnish. Or amaze the imagination of others by painting the cones with bright acrylic paints. If you make beautiful ribbons for such products, you will get unusual Christmas tree decorations for the New Year.
Original picture frames, candle holders, children's compositions of pine cones retain their texture and original appearance for a long time. Such creative products give others the aroma of coniferous wood and high spirits!