Cranberry - a berry, which was famous in his work by the famous writer M. M. Prishvin. From his story “Pantry of the Sun” we know that collecting this inhabitant of the swamps is not so simple, and sometimes even life-threatening. But the effort is worth it, as it is a very useful product. Where does cranberry grow, what does it look like, when and how is it harvested? Read the answers to these and other questions below. Also, the article provides a description of bog cranberries.
About the healing properties of berries
Cranberries have few competitors in terms of healing properties. This is just a storehouse of vitamins and rare trace elements. Its composition, in particular, contains manganese, selenium, lutein and zeaxanthin. The berry also contains many vitamins K and C.
Cranberry - a sure remedy for those who want to increase the protective properties of the body or undergoing antibiotic treatment (thanks to this berry, their effect is enhanced). Before, when antibiotics were not yet invented, cranberries were used instead. Medicines that heal wounds are prepared from the marsh berry, used for scurvy and rheumatism, and if the temperature rises, you can remove the heat with cranberries.
Detailed description of bog cranberries
It belongs to shrubbery plants. Its bushes turn green in the swamp year-round - they do not change their color. They have a small size, as well as a thin stalk (creeping) in the form of a thread and the same thin branches, which in young plants are covered with delicate hairs (they spread on the ground or just slightly rise above it).
Cranberry leaves are small, with a short cut, in shape resembling an oblong egg with a heart-shaped base and a pointed top. Their edges are slightly bent down. The outer side of the leaf is glossy, dark green in color, and the “underside” is gray. Do not fly around in winter.
This shrub blooms finely. The petals are nail-shaped, pointed at the top, most often purple, but sometimes there are also white ones. The flowers have a regular shape, look drooping.
The marsh cranberry bears fruit with berries, similar to balls or small eggs, from 1 to 1.3 cm wide. The color of the unripe fruits is white, and then they turn red and acquire a very saturated color. The berries, like the leaves, seem to be covered with gloss, but they are not easy to see, since they are hidden under a net of branches spread on the ground.
Cranberry Habitats
Cranberries - a berry that loves moisture and does not tolerate a polluted environment. This plant is very sensitive and selective - it won’t live anywhere. Therefore, in the immediate vicinity of places of human activity you will not find cranberries in the afternoon with fire. She loves the swampy areas hidden from the eyes of people, humid lowlands, and sometimes she also meets on the hills, in the foothills. Basic cranberry requirements: high humidity and fertile soil.
The largest thickets of berries are in central Russia, in the north of the country and in Siberia, as well as in Belarus, in the north of Ukraine and France, in Canada and the northern states of the United States.
Of the three types of cranberries (large-fruited, small-fruited and ordinary) in the territory of the Russian Federation, only the last two can be found. Common marsh cranberry is more common - it is found everywhere, excluding the southern regions of the country.
What else is called cranberry?
Cranberries - this is probably one of the most named plants. In every region it is called differently. So, for example, residents of the Pskov region call cranberries a freckle, Zhiravinina or a crane; in Vologda, Kostroma, and Nizhny Novgorod, jaravik grows in the swamps, and in the Arkhangelsk region, a zharavik grows; in the Smolensk region, berries are used to called zhiravina; Belarusians call cranberries cranes, and Ukrainians call it cranberries.
When is cranberry harvested and how is it done?
Cranberry flowering period is the end of spring and the beginning of summer. But she begins to bear fruit only in September and ends by November. During this period, people collect it. By the way, frosts of this berry are not terrible, so you can not be afraid that it will disappear if frost suddenly hit.
People have been hunting cranberries for a long time, and in those regions where the berry is traditional, they have already got the hang of doing it. But it will be quite difficult for a newcomer or a guest to collect it, because cranberries do not grow near human settlements, and besides, they can lure them into a quagmire, covering the swamp with a net of branches and thereby not allowing them to be seen in time. When cranberries are harvested, extreme care must be taken.
There is one more trick for the “cunning” berry. She skillfully hides her fruits from the eyes of men under the branches, finding them is not easy. Experienced collectors use a special wooden or bone scallop, with the help of which they raise the branches and remove the fruits from them.
Cranberries in the garden
As noted above, where cranberries grow, there is no place for dirt. And vice versa. And a person, as a rule, lives in places with not the best ecology. Therefore, to cultivate a healing berry at home is problematic. For a long time, people tried to “tame” cranberries, but to no avail. And only at the end of the nineteenth century did the Americans manage to develop a hybrid based on a large-fruited species that adapts more easily than others.
Today, there are many varieties of garden cranberries, and some people decide to engage in its cultivation. To achieve success in this matter, you need to be patient and arm yourself with knowledge, since this is a very capricious and whimsical plant.
