What is a swamp, of course, each of us knows. The swamp, an impenetrable deceptive space that draws in, prevents the traveler who has got here to get out.
The popular belief claims that the high swamp grass hides insidious creatures - kikimor, aquatic and mermaids, who do not allow anyone to be saved. But in fact, a swamp is an amazing world in which dozens of types of medicinal herbs grow, as well as such tasty and healthy berries and mushrooms. This is a storehouse of peat and a reliable storage of water reserves for rivers and lakes. Let's go to the swamp and consider what is growing on this waterlogged land.
How are swamps formed?
Marshes arise in two ways: in the process of overgrowing of a reservoir or as a result of swamping of land. Overgrowing of ponds, lakes and old river rivers is the most frequent occurrence in our natural conditions.
And if the shore of the reservoir is low and gentle, then it will overgrow in concentric circles. At the greatest depth (usually about 6 m), the bottom will be covered with a thick carpet of algae, a natural water filter, the hornwort, will settle at a lesser depth, and narrow-leafed inflorescences will stick out their spike-shaped inflorescences above the surface. Even closer to the shore, the snow-white petals of the water lilies will open, and more modest yellow egg capsules will be pumped nearby. Their rhizomes hide in silt to a depth of 4 m, and wide leaves float on the water.
At a depth of 1.5 m, reeds, horsetail, as well as large and shallow sedge grow. Due to the fact that the water near the shore warms up well, swamp grasses are very diverse. This is a gopher, arrowhead, European head, buttercup, cotton gingham, ditty, swamp iris - their growth belt adjoins the shore itself.
Deposits from the remains of these plants lead to the fact that the pond becomes shallow over time, and the plants move closer and closer to the center, closing in a tight ring around open water. In the end, the time comes when the pond turns into a sedge swamp.
What are the types of swamps?
Depending on which swamp grass or other plants prevail in a particular swamp, they are divided into different species.
- It can be sphagnum bogs (they are also called peat bogs ). The main plant on them is sphagnum moss, which forms peat cushions during the growth process.
- There are also swamps with a predominance of sedge. In addition to her, other herbs grow there. Such swamps are called grassy or, in other words, lowland.
- And bogs, where not only perennial grasses grow, but also various trees and shrubs are classified as forest.
In addition, they are divided, depending on the location, into high, low and transitional.
Lowland swamps and grass growing on them
Lowlands are swamps characteristic of floodplains. They are usually rich in mineral salts, and the ash content of peat and its degree of decomposition are the highest. In this landscape marsh grass feels great, which is very diverse. Sedge, horsetail, tsikuta, saber-eared, white-winged, common dwelling - these are just a small list of plants that inhabit lowland marshes.
With the first rays of the spring sun in the lowland marshes its bright yellow flowers are the marsh marsh. In nature, there are more than 40 species of this primrose. The fleshy rounded leaves and dense petals of this flower have a pearly sheen, attracting insects in early spring, trying to climb a bud heated by the sun. And this, in turn, greatly enhances the chances of a potato marijuana for successful pollination. Kaluga is used as a medicinal plant for the treatment of pertussis, herpes and bronchitis. This plant has proven itself in painful menstruation.
By the way, admiring the kaluzhnitsa, we must not forget that this flower is unsafe, or rather, it is poisonous, and improperly prepared infusions from it can be toxic.
About the marsh cinquefoil and whitefly
Not only kalugnitsa can boast of its healing properties. Grass marshy saber, also growing here, is a real storehouse of utility. Its rhizome contains tannins in large quantities, and the plant itself is rich in carbohydrates, mineral salts, ascorbic acid, carotene, as well as flavonoids and essential oils. All this makes saberfish very useful as an anti-inflammatory, wound healing and diaphoretic.
The saber-winterer hibernates with the help of a creeping rhizome located deep in the soil, which shoots with cirrus leaves and large flowers, in the form of pointed five-leafed, painted in a blood-red color.
Many marsh herbs are used as medicinal plants, but the wing-wing, which blooms in the swamp until mid-summer, can not be attributed to them. This amazingly beautiful flower, sparkling with lacquered leaves and looking like a small calla (which, incidentally, is a close relative), is very poisonous. Moreover, absolutely all parts are poisonous in it, starting from the root, from which, nevertheless, in the hungry years, peasants, after special treatment, were added to rye flour, and ending with bright red fleshy berries.
How does a lowland swamp turn into a highland?
No matter how the swamp would arise, at first it goes through the lowland stage, well supplied with groundwater. Over time, on the bumps and around the stumps, an increase in grass cover begins here. This gradually raises the surface of the swamp, and it slowly breaks away from groundwater.
Now the elevated places of this landscape can receive water only from the atmosphere in the form of rain and snow. And those plants that tolerate a lack of mineral substances, for example, cranberries, perennial marsh grass - cotton grass, cassandra, etc., will be able to settle here. Such a swamp will now belong to transitional ones. Gradually, its entire surface will be torn off from groundwater, and the swamp will turn into a horse.
High Marsh Plants
Horse marshes are most often formed on watersheds. The water reserves here are replenished mainly by atmospheric precipitation, and mineral salts in peat because of this are represented in much smaller quantities than in lowland marshes. The dominant plants on their territory are sphagnum mosses. In addition to them, wild rosemary, podbel, cassandra, blueberries, cloudberries, sundew, various sedges and other marsh grasses are found.
One of the most popular wetland plants is cloudberry. By the way, this is the name of the plant itself and its fruits. In ancient times, it was known as swamp amber or royal berry. Similar in shape to raspberries, cloudberries still have a special sweet and sour wine taste and a spicy smell. Unripe berries are red, and ripe ones become orange, almost transparent, like an elegant craft made from pure amber.
Vitamin C in the named berry is 3 times more than in the famous orange, cloudberries will give odds over carrots by the content of vitamin A. And in her healing qualities, she has no equal among marsh plants.
Ledum marsh
On the upper and transitional bogs, an evergreen shrub from the Vereskov family - ledum forms a lush thicket. This plant is also medicinal, but you need to be extremely careful with it - Ledum is very poisonous! With its strong stupefying, camphor-like odor, it causes dizziness, nausea and headache.
This poisonous swamp grass is harvested only with mittens and respirators. But properly assembled rosemary is an effective expectorant, enveloping and antitussive. In addition, it has antihypertensive, sedative and antispastic properties.
Round-billed sundew
Perhaps the most amazing inhabitant of the bogs is the sundew. This marsh grass is a carnivorous plant, the leaf blade of which is covered with a large number of hairs-glands, with a drop of sticky liquid on the tip of each.
Droplets, so similar to dew, shining in the morning sun, attract the attention of potential victims. They contain sugar and seem like a great treat, but are actually sticky mucus.
This marsh grass has unusually sensitive leaves that react even to the lightest touch of an insect and immediately set in motion, generously clinging to it with sticky “dew”. The movement of the leaf is directed toward the center, an immobilized victim crawls into it and finds himself next to the digestive villi. The edges of the leaf gradually close, and it all turns into a kind of microgastric. After only the outer skeleton remains from the insect, the leaf straightens again, waiting for a new victim.
A little more about swamp grasses
As you have probably already seen, swamp grasses, the photos of which are posted in the article, possess not only medicinal qualities, but can be poisonous. This in the plant world is the main means of self-preservation - a bitter taste, a pungent smell, as well as an increased content of resins, acids and essential oils. And marsh plants, forced to live in particularly difficult conditions, are most often poisonous. In addition to the aforementioned, the milestone is also referred to as a milestone (cycloid), ordinary horsetail, horsetail, pendulum and triostera marsh, buttercup, medicinal black root and many others.
But we repeat again - this does not prevent them from being medicinal and saving people from many serious ailments. The main thing is to be vigilant and in no case exceed the dosages indicated for the preparation of medicinal infusions or decoctions of herbs that the swamp generously gives us.