The two-year-old aspherinus is a medicinal and ornamental plant that blooms at night. It received such a name for the similarity of the shape of the leaves with the donkey's ears. However, it also has many other names: rapunzel, left-handed field, lettuce root, night candle, etc.
Two-year-old aspirant: description
The gummy is a biennial plant with a straight or branched top stalk up to 1.5 m high, alternate leaves (oval or lanceolate), decorated along the edge with denticles.
Flowers with a diameter of 3-4 cm have a bright yellow-lemon tint and a pleasant fragrant aroma, are located in the axils of the upper leaves, gather in long cystate inflorescences. Flowering continues from June to September, and its flowers bloom in the evening, pollinated by nocturnal insects, and close in the morning.
The fruits are in the shape of a 4-sided capsule, in each of which up to 230 small seeds can be placed. Ripening occurs unevenly between September and November.
The plant has the botanical name evening primrose biennial. Oenothera biennis - this is how the two-year-old donkey is written in Latin, which in Greek means “oinos” (wine) and “tere” (desire). The name is associated with a specific aroma and the action of a salad from its leaves. In ancient times, it was believed that after eating evening primrose, love wishes awakened. Her homeland is North America.
Origin and distribution area
The evening primrose or two-year-old oslinik belongs to the Cypriot family, the genus includes 80 plant species. In its homeland, the American continent, it is grown in the form of a vegetable called rapunzel or raponica, using fleshy roots for food. Evening primrose was introduced into Europe in the 17th century; gradually, the plant grew wild and spread to many countries.
Nowadays, in nature, an oslinik can be found in Central Europe, the Scandinavian countries, in the north of Russia, the Caucasus, the Mediterranean countries, China, Japan and Australia. The plant loves calcareous and sandy-humus soils; it often grows near the road, along railway embankments, along river banks. The gummy is located either in small groups or singly.
Cooking Application
All parts of evening primrose can be used for cooking:
- raw or boiled roots, similar in taste to parsnip, put in salads;
- young oslinnik greens can be used for salad or put in green borscht,
- crushed seeds taste like nuts and can be added to honey or preserves.
Medicinal properties
Evening primrose has several popular names: night candle, evening primrose, etc. The plant is rich in nutrients: glucose (36%), sucrose (3.2%), cellulose (10%), starch (5%), inulin (2%), fatty oils (3.5%), and resins, rubber, organic acids and tannins are also present. Leaves contain phenolcarboxylic acids, vitamins C and E, flavonoids. There are a lot of fatty oils in the seeds (up to 50%), there is protein (16%), glucose (36%), etc.
The beneficial properties of the biennial aspen are very diverse. For medicinal purposes, use flowers, stems, roots of a year old, seeds. All of them have an astringent, calming effect, enhance the release of insulin in the body, increase immunity and resistance to diseases, stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, are useful in diseases of the kidneys, lungs and skin, and have a neutralizing effect on the negative biofield. One of the components - gamma-linolenic acid - positively affects the normalization of physiological processes in the female body, therefore evening primrose oil is often prescribed in the treatment of infertility, to reduce menstrual pain.
The use of the aspen in traditional medicine:
- roots - with tuberculosis and colds;
- decoction of inflorescences - with jade, for the treatment of wounds;
- an infusion of leaves has a sedative and anticonvulsant effect;
- tinctures of green parts in water and vodka - with diarrhea, to normalize the state after dehydration.
On the basis of a biennial aspen, a homeopathic preparation “Evening Primrose Oil” is produced with a high content of vitamin E, unsaturated fatty acids. Evening primrose oil is also used to relieve abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, lower blood pressure, treat bruises and skin diseases (including acne), as it relieves itching, redness and increases skin moisture. Evening primrose oil is added to cosmetics to moisturize and soften the skin of the face.
Evening primrose treatment is contraindicated in glaucoma, increased permeability of blood vessels.
Cultivation in the country
Such an unpretentious plant, like a biennial aspen, can be successfully grown at its summer cottage for decorative and medicinal purposes. Enotera loves sunny places, although it can grow in sparse shade under the trees, unpretentious to the soil. It does not tolerate excess moisture, as this contributes to the decay of the roots, because the soil around the bush should be regularly loosened and weeds removed. Watering may be needed only in very hot and dry periods. The plant tolerates wintering well without shelter.
Evening primrose is propagated by seeds, often self-sowing. A simpler method is the vegetative one, which is best used in the fall or spring in May. The bushes are divided into separate shoots and transplanted to the right place, usually the plants take root well.
