Autumn, like all seasons, is surprisingly beautiful in its own way. Nature at this time dresses in the most variegated clothes made of colorful leaves: brown, red, yellow, orange and even green. Thanks to the bright sun, although not already very warm, everything shimmers with gold. Magnificent autumn landscapes, the smell of amazing freshness - all this attracts, especially in sunny weather. And what happens in the forest and in the fields? There is a sea of bright leaves under your feet, a bunch of oak acorns, as well as plants, and not even faded.
What happens at this time of year with trees, grasses, shrubs, flowers? Autumn plants take on a completely different look.
This article will tell about the features of nature in this period of the year.
About autumn
Autumn according to the calendar begins on September 1, for astronomers it comes on the day of the autumn equinox (September 22). For meteorologists, this is the date on which the stable average daily temperature passes through 10 degrees to lower temperatures.
For phenologists (scientists studying the frequency of phenomena in the life of animals and plants), autumn comes at the time of noticeable yellowing of the leaves on the bushes and trees. Each year, this time falls on a different date. Birch leaves usually turn yellow first, followed by lime tree, bird cherry, mountain ash, maple, and viburnum in order.
Autumn herbs and flowers retain their summer green color longer, although there are many plants with yellowed leaves and stems among them, but many still bloom. Among the latter, some of the plants bloom a second time only occasionally, but there are those for which repeated flowering has become quite common.
After a warm and green summer, it's time for a cool, but golden autumn. Gradually all the trees and shrubs dress in crimson and gold, cranes and other migratory birds scream in the transparent sky. No wonder A.S. Pushkin called this “eye of charm” this time.
Autumn flowers and herbs
Most often, the following plants bloom for the second time: meadow clover, fragrant violet, adonis, cuckoo color, forest anemones, etc. The peculiar conditions of autumn weather contribute to this, when a long period of warming comes after a cold snap.
Many plants, especially so-called weeds, can bloom from early spring to late fall. This is a wood louse (or asterisk), a yarut (talaban), etc. With blossoming flowers, later forms of plant varieties are also found in the fall: tenacious, eyebright, field violet. They bloom in early summer, then seem to disappear and bloom again by autumn. Similar forms of herbs are not well understood today.
Some of the plants that bloom in autumn are plants that usually bloom in the second half of summer and continue to bloom in autumn. After all, crow's feet, cinquefoil, chicory, some types of cornflowers, tansy, cloves and others fade away. Blossoms in humid places and a series.
There are herbs in the autumn forest that only bloom at this time. First of all, this is a colchicum autumn - one of the most beautiful and biologically interesting plants. It is also only in autumn that the yellow flowers of Sternbergia bloom (the amaryllis family). They are found only in the Crimea and in the Odessa region. Autumn snowdrops, saffron, etc. bloom.
Autumn grass collection
For all those who prefer alternative treatment, autumn is the most important time of the year, since it is during this period that you can pretty well stock up with medicinal herbs, which will be enough for a whole year.
For the campaign for the harvest, you should choose environmentally friendly places. Basically, in healing autumn herbs, rhizomes and fruits are used for treatment. Usually, by the fall, the upper part of the plants dies, and the root absorbs all the healing properties.
How to prepare plants for use?
The collected leaves and rhizomes of autumn herbs need to be dried. But first, the rhizomes must be thoroughly cleaned from the ground and rotted parts, then washed in cool water. After drying, they should be cut and laid out on a paper in a thin layer, then leave it all to dry outdoors. Rhizomes of some not very large plants can be prepared entirely.
You can dry them both in the fresh air, and in the oven or oven. Store finished products preferably in tightly closed jars.
Therapeutic autumn herbs: description
With the onset of autumn, the roots and rhizomes of many herbs are harvested. Here are some of them.
Medicinal angelica is a biennial plant with a very pleasant smell. The erect stem is single, up to 250 cm high, hollow inside. Regular leaves three times cirrus. The inflorescence is large, in the form of an almost round spherical umbrella (diameter - 8-15 cm), has 20-40 rays. Peduncles densely pubescent in the upper part, and nondescript small flowers have a yellow-green color. Used in the treatment of rhizome and stem.
Medicinal valerian is a perennial plant reaching a height of up to 1.5 meters. The fistulose, erect stem branches closer to the inflorescence. On a bush alone, several stems grow. The leaves are either alternate, or collected several in a whorl, cirrus-dissected. Fragrant flowers collected in large axillary and apical branched inflorescences are small (up to 4 mm in diameter) and have white, light purple or pinkish hues. Roots and rhizomes are collected for drying.
Shepherd’s bag is a very prolific weed plant (found in gardens). A straight or branched peduncle (height - 40 cm), on which numerous brushes with buds are formed. At the top of the plant are flowers, small, white, and at the bottom are seed boxes in a triangular shape. The latter, having seeds in themselves, look like a shepherd’s bag, and from there the name of the plant. For medicinal purposes, only the root is used.
Quite a lot of autumn herbs are suitable for the treatment of various diseases, among which the following: snake highlander (use roots and rhizomes), cyanosis blue (rhizome and root), hemophobia (roots with rhizomes), nettle (leaves), etc.
