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Schisandra chinensis - help from nature

Chinese Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)

In ancient times, when there was still no scientific medicine or pharmacology, people had to seek help from nature, trying to find useful plants. They were sought after by trial and error, often quite costly, observing animals, learning from other tribes. But on the other hand, the existing knowledge was stored and cherished, passing it on from generation to generation. If there was no written language, then simply teaching the younger generation by personal example.

For example, golds - hunters in Primorye and Priamurye, long before the advent of scientific medicine, used the healing properties of one vine, the modern name of which is Chinese magnolia vine. They knew its tonic properties and used it, harvesting dried fruits and shoots for the winter. Hunters chew lemongrass to quench their thirst and relieve fatigue as they walk long distances and make long, difficult hikes.

A handful of dried berries makes it possible for a hunter to get by with meager food, chase a sable all day without feeling tired; in addition, when eating lemongrass, night vision is aggravated.

 

In terms of structure, systematic position, place of origin and distribution, lemongrass has nothing to do with a real citrus plant with lemon, but all its organs (roots, shoots, leaves, flowers, berries) exude a lemon scent. Apparently, this is where the name of this plant originated.

In total, according to some data, there are 14 species of Schisandra, and according to others - 25. These are mainly Asian species, and only one is widespread in the forests of North America. Lemongrass are found in the countries of East and Southeast Asia: in Northeast, Central and Southeast China, in Korea, in the eastern part of Thailand, in Cambodia, Vietnam, in Nepal and some regions of India, Burma, on the Japanese islands.

On the territory of Russia, only one species grows in the wild - Chinese magnolia vine. It was widespread in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during the Tertiary period, but due to a worsening climate, it became extinct in most of its original range.

Chinese Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)

Schisandra chinensis (Schisandrachinensis) - mono- or dioecious vine with a powerful rhizome from the Schisandra family (Schisandraceae). (In older botanical literature, it was included in the magnoliaceae family Magnoliaceae). Individual branches can reach up to 15 m in length and 2 cm in diameter, they branch almost along the entire length. You can easily distinguish a young plant from an old one by the appearance and color of the bark. On old vines, it is dark brown, wrinkled, flaky, and on young ones it is yellowish, smooth, shiny. During the season, the shoots grow quite quickly, rising up 1-1.5 m, twisting the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs clockwise.

Leaves are alternate, on red-brown cuttings 1-3 cm long, elliptical or obovate, with a wedge-shaped base, pointed, with obscure denticles along the edge, 5-10 cm long and 3-5 cm wide. Flowers are dioecious, fragrant, drooping, 2-7 in leaf axils, small, on long pink pedicels, white, pink or cream-colored, consist of 6-9 petals. Male flowers have white stamens, female flowers have green pistils. Males bloom 2-3 days earlier than females and do not lose petals after flowering, but fall off along with the pedicel. Females lose petals as fertilization progresses with the onset of ovary development.

 

Young plants entering the fruiting period form mainly male flowers, female ones - as they develop and grow in height. In adult bushes, the layering of the arrangement of flowers is manifested: in the lower part of the vine, only male flowers are formed, in the middle - male and female from one bud (mixed), in the upper part - only female flowers.The presence of flowers of one sex or another is not a stable sign, established once and for all, but depends on age, illumination, nutritional conditions, temperature regime, soil moisture, etc. Flower buds are laid on the shoots of previous years, usually 3-4 male buds and 2-3 female flowers.

Flowering takes place in July, pollination - with the help of insects. Duration of flowering is 8-12 days.

After flowering on female flowers, when ripe, the receptacle lengthens 25-30 times, and from one flower a dangling cluster of bright red spherical fruits resembling a berry is formed. The fruits ripen in September-October. Seeds are yellow or yellowish-brown, kidney-shaped. One plant produces 4-5 kg ​​of fruits.

Different peoples have lemongrass their own names: Russian - lemongrass, lemon tree, red Maksimovich grapes, Nanai - cotsalta, Udege - inbanku, Korean - omidza, Japanese - gomigni.

Endem of the Far East

In our country, lemongrass has chosen the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands.

It prefers cedar-broad-leaved and broad-leaved forests of the Manchu type and rises in the mountains up to 900 m above sea level. It can be seen most often along the edges and valleys of streams, entwining trees and bushes; in the floodplains of rivers and in wetlands, this liana is not found. The main thickets are located at an altitude of 200-500 m above sea level. Lemongrass prefers humus-rich, shallow, dark-brown and mountain-forest soils on well-drained slopes. A light-loving plant, bears fruit only in illuminated areas, although it tolerates strong shading. Abundant fruiting occurs once every few years. Lemongrass is a frost-hardy and early-growing liana, that is, it begins to bear fruit at a young age.

 

In nature, it is not always possible to immediately distinguish lemongrass from other lianas growing in the same communities, of which there are quite a lot in the Far East, for example, representatives of the genera Actinidia and the red-bellied or wood-nose. Shoots of actinidia twine around the stems of other trees counterclockwise (in Schizandra only clockwise), their leaves are thin, non-skinned and sharp-toothed along the edge, and the fruits are large berries. In tree-nose pliers, the bark of the shoots is greenish-brown; the leaves are serrated along the edge, at the end they are suddenly narrowed into a sharp point, sit on green petioles, the fruits are leathery capsules. All of these species do not have the specific odor characteristic of lemongrass.

Due to the reduction of natural thickets of Schisandra, the frequency of fruiting and yield unstable by years and populations, as well as the growing demand for fruits and seeds as medicinal raw materials, this species is listed in the regional Red Book. Therefore, the solution to this problem is the creation of industrial plantations (which is hard to believe) and its cultivation on their personal plots, which, in fact, is happening now, since the selection does not stand still.

Considering that lemongrass is a fairly young crop in our plots, its varieties are still little known. Therefore, for those especially interested, we offer the characteristics of varieties of this crop, included in the State Register.

Mountain. Isolated from the collection of the Far Eastern Experimental Station VNIIR. Author - O.T. Slobodchikova. Medium ripening. The yield is high, up to 1-1.2 kg per bush. Begins to bear fruit 3-4 years after planting. Winter hardiness is high. Relatively resistant to diseases and pests. Technical. Thin liana, up to 4 m in height. The leaves are ovoid, dark green. The fruit is 9.5 cm long, weighing 17 g, contains up to 30 fruits (the average weight of one fruit is 0.7 g). The skin is dark red. The taste is sour, pleasant. A promising variety. Recommended for testing in amateur and industrial gardens in the Far East and other regions.

 

Oltis. Isolated from the collection of the Far Eastern Experimental Station VNIIR in 1993. Author: P.A. Chebukin. Medium ripening. The yield is very high, up to 2-2.8 kg per bush.Begins to bear fruit 3-4 years after planting. Winter hardiness is high. Relatively resistant to diseases and pests. Technical. Thin, flexible liana, up to 2 m in height. The bark is dark brown. Leaves are oblong-oval, dirty green. The fruit is 8.9 cm long, weighing 13 g, contains up to 17 fruits (the average weight of one fruit is 0.8 g). The skin is dark red, dense. The taste is bitter and sour. A promising variety. Recommended for testing in amateur and industrial gardens in the Far East and other regions.

 

Schisandra Chinese Firstborn

Firstborn. Received from the Moscow branch of VNIIR. Late ripening. Frost resistance is weak. Relatively resistant to diseases and pests. Productivity 0.7 kg per bush. Technical. The bush is medium-sized. Shoots are thin, curly, hairless, without thorns. Leaves are medium in size, without pubescence, soft, smooth. Fruit cluster of medium size, compact, cylindrical in shape. The axis of the hand is straight, thin, not pubescent. The flowers are medium-sized, white. Berries of medium size, 0.43 g. The skin is red, carmine. Taste sour, refreshing, aromatic, mediocre. The fruits contain 44 mg% vitamin C. In a government test since 1999. Included in the state register in 1999 for all regions.

 

Purple. Isolated from the collection of the Far Eastern Experimental Station VNIIR in 1985. Author: O.T. Slobodchikova. Medium ripening. The yield is very high, up to 2.5-3.0 kg per bush. Begins to bear fruit 3-4 years after planting. Winter hardiness is high. Relatively resistant to diseases and pests. Technical. Thin liana, up to 4-5 m in height. The bark is dark brown. Leaves are heart-shaped, light green. The fruit is 8.7 cm long, weighing 8 g, contains up to 18-20 fruits (the average weight of one fruit is 0.5 g). The skin is dense, purple in color. The pulp is juicy. The taste is sour, pleasant. A promising variety. Recommended for testing in amateur and industrial gardens in the Far East and other regions.

About the properties of lemongrass - in articles

  • Schisandra: berry of five flavors and spicy leaves
  • Lemongrass recipes: from tincture to tea
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