Alder is a shrub or a tree from the Berezovye family.
The tree is black alder (European, sticky) reaches 35 m in height. The bark of the trunk is dark brown with cracks.
Its young branches are brownish-reddish, smooth,often sticky. Leaves obovate or round, on top have a notch. Young leaves are very shiny and sticky. Developed from below have a light green color, from above - dark green. In the spiked spiky inflorescence there are flowers (earrings).
The fruits of the plant are nuts with a rather narrow leathery wing. Bracty scales ripen with maturation of nuts, thereby forming a kind of cone, reaching a length of 2 centimeters.
Alder gray (white) is a treeheight up to 15 m, less often - shrub. Light-gray bark, the leaves are ovate-elliptical or ovate, pointed toward the apex. Young - non-sticky and not shiny; further - dark green on top with sparse hairs and from below - bluish-gray. Inflorescences are the same as in sticky alders, the bumps are mostly up to 1.5 cm in length, a nut with a clear winglets.
Alder gray and black grows in the west of Asia,almost everywhere in northern Africa and in Europe. It is brought to different parts of the world, while in North America, in some places it poses even a threat to different local species. Alder black, a photo of which is presented in this article, grows in the forest, forest-steppe and steppe regions of European Russia, in addition - in Western Siberia, as well as in the Caucasus. Prefers raw lands.
Alder gray is widespread in the European region of our country. It also grows in Asia Minor, Europe, Western Siberia, Transcaucasia. Forms plantations along the banks of small streams and small rivers.
In the leaves of the plant - up to 20% of proteins, up to 6%fat, carotene, vitamin C, resin acids, flavonoids. The orots contain a lot of tannins, including tannin (2.33%) and gallic acid (3.75%). The bark contains vitamin PP as well as essential oil.
For medicinal purposes, bark, leaves andcones of alder. These parts of the plant are very widely used in the past in traditional medicine for rheumatism, various colds, gout, etc. During the Second World War in the medical community, the black alder coats were very interested. They began to be used since 1942 as an astringent for various diseases of the stomach, acute and chronic colitis, as well as enteritis.
Alder black is actively used in medicalpurposes. From her cones make decoctions, from the bark, oviposition and leaves - water infusions and alcohol tinctures. They are used in folk and official medicine as astringent, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, antibacterial, anticancer, hemostatic, immunomodulating.
The cones of alder (as an astringent) are used with a coil. To do this, take 2 pieces of cones and part of the core of the coil, brew and use as a tea.
Alder black, the photo of which is presented in thisarticle, is known for its healing properties. To prepare the infusion from it, you need to pour 4 g cones into a glass of boiling water, leave to pour in a closed jar for three hours, covered with a terry towel. After that - to filter. Ready infusion should be taken 4 times a day for half a cup, before meals.
Alder black is also used for cookinginfusion from its roots. To do this, you need to pour 10 grams of finely chopped raw material with a glass of hot water, then put boiled in an enameled sealed container for 30 minutes. Infuse the filter with hot, then dilute with clean water to the original volume. Take it you need two spoons before eating.
Take 15 g of alder leaves, pour them a glassclean warm water, then 20 minutes of boiling in a water bath. Next, the resulting broth must be cooled and filtered. Next - squeeze and add water to the original volume.
The stems are usually collected in winter and autumn as followsway: cut the ends of the thin branches of the tree from which they hang down. After that, branched parts are removed, and the nozzles are dried in well-ventilated, warm rooms.
Raw material consists of mature cones of alder. They are overgrown and stiffened earrings resembling cones. For the most part, they have opened flakes, ovoid or oval-oblong with the presence of fruit (or without them). Cotopodia should be without stems or with their remains (no more than a centimeter in length). In addition, they can be collected on a thin stalk together for several pieces. They consist of a rough solid rod, as well as numerous, solid flakes. Scales should be six-lobed, and the fruit - flattened, single-seeded. The color of the orots is dark brown or brown. The aroma is weak, the taste is slightly astringent.
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