Generic name of motherwort Leonuruscomes from latin words leo, which in translation means lion and ura - the tail and was given to the plant by the botanist from Danzig Jacob Brain (1637-1697). Translated from German, its name sounds like "lion's tail". The name, coming from the time of Theophrastus - Cardica - means "favorable to the heart".
The medicinal properties of the plant determined its specific name - heart, and the shape of the leaves determined the name of another species - five-lobed.
There are many popular names for this plant, and almost all of them characterize either its appearance or medicinal properties - hairy motherwort, woolly motherwort, hairy motherwort, dog nettle, heart grass, core, deaf nettle, wild nettle, chicken footprint.
In Europe, he was known since the times of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. In the first printed German herbalist "Gart der Gesundheit" (1485), he is mentioned in chapter 106 under the Greek name and is recommended for heart ailments with reference to Dioscorides. Unlike most other plants, it is also drawn, so there is no doubt about the accuracy of the definition of the species.
Paracelsus and Fuchs recommended an infusion of motherwort on wine for palpitations (in modern terms - tachycardia), convulsions, and an aqueous decoction - for epilepsy and as a diuretic. In "New Herbalist" L. Fuchs there is a well-recognizable picture of a motherwort.
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In general, the genus motherwort (Leonurus) from the family Lamiaceae (Lipocytes) includes 24 species, which are divided into three sections and 5 subsections. Our medicinal motherworts belong to the section Leonurus subsections too Leonurus... But the types used in oriental medicine (Chinese, Korean) - to the section Cardiochilium.
Used in European countries and here motherwort heart, or ordinary (Leonuruscardiaca) is a perennial herb with a short woody rhizome and lateral roots extending from it and from the taproot. He has a lot of synonyms in the literature: L. villosus DESF. Et SPRENG, L. campestris ANDRZ., L. canescens DUMORT., L. trilobatus (Lam.) Dulac and very old Cardiaca vulgaris Moench, C. trilobata Lam.
The root system of the motherwort is located shallowly in the soil. Stems are green, often reddish-purple, erect, branched in the upper part, tetrahedral, ribbed, hollow, covered with protruding long hairs, 50-200 cm high.
The leaves are petiolate, opposite, gradually decreasing towards the top of the stem, dark and bright green above, with a grayish tint below. The lower leaves are round or ovoid, petiolate, with heart-shaped bases, five-part; medium oblong-elliptical or lanceolate, short-petiolate, tripartite or trilobate, with wide oblong toothed lobes; apical - simple, with two lateral teeth.
The flowers are small, pink, equipped with hairy subulate bracts, sitting in spaced whorls, forming long spike-shaped apical inflorescences. The calyx is conical, indistinctly double-lipped, glabrous, sometimes slightly hairy, 5-6 mm long, with 5 veins and 5 subulate teeth 3-3.5 mm long, of which the lower one is bent downward, and the upper ones are protruding. Corolla pink or pinkish-violet, two-lipped, 10-12 mm long, equipped with a hairy ring inside with an obovate pubescent upper lip and a three-lobed lower lip; the middle oblong-ovate lobe exceeds the lateral lobes. The fruit consists of four 3-sided dark brown nuts 2-3 mm long, enclosed in the remaining calyx. Motherwort blooms in June-July; after mowing during the period of mass flowering, under favorable conditions, after 1.5-2 months, secondary flowering of the aftermath is observed. Seed ripening occurs in August-September and begins from the lower inflorescences. Propagated mainly by seeds.
As for the motherwort five-lobed, it is customary to designate it in the European pharmacopoeial editions as a subspecies of the motherwort of the heart Leonuruscardiaca L. var. villosus, and in our literature it is denoted as Leonurusquinquelobatus Gilib.
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The area of five-lobed motherwort coincides with the area of the main species. It differs from motherwort heart in that the plate of the lower and middle leaves is five-part, and the upper one is three-lobed, in addition, the stems, like the whole plant, are covered with protruding long hairs. It is he who is allowed for use in the European Pharmacopoeia.
When harvesting wild-growing raw materials, there are mistakes. So, other types of motherwort are prohibited for use in official medicine - gray and Tatar, which sometimes grow in the same places, as well as the black husk, akin to motherwort, which vaguely resembles motherwort.
Gray motherwort (Leonorusglaucescens Bunge) has a bluish color due to the pubescence of the entire plant with dense, short, downward and pressed hairs. Calyx narrow-conical, somewhat humpbacked, with 5 veins, 7-8 mm long, covered with densely appressed hairs; the corolla is light pink, 10-12 mm long.
Motherwort tatar (Leonorustataricus L.), unlike the previous species, has bare, finely dissected leaves and is covered with long hairs only in the upper part of the stem. The calyx is broad-conical, long-haired, 5-6 mm long, with 5 veins; corolla pink-violet, 10 mm long.
Have black hound (Ballotanigra D.) the stem is short-haired (the hairs are inclined downward), the leaf blades are rounded or oblong-ovate with a truncated or shallow heart-shaped base, whole; corollas 12-15 mm long, dirty pink and, unlike motherwort, without swelling under the ring of hairs in the tube; calyx is tubular-funnel-shaped, five-toothed, with 10 veins.
A fan of the temperate belt
These are widespread plants. The area of motherwort is located in the temperate zone of Eurasia. It is widespread almost throughout the entire European part (except for the northern, semi-desert and desert regions), in the south of Western Siberia, in the Western and Eastern Transcaucasia, and is ubiquitous in Ukraine, Crimea and Krasnodar Territory. To the east, its range narrows, entering only with a small tongue into the southern regions of Siberia and northern Kazakhstan.
Both species usually grow near dwellings, often as weeds. Motherwort grows absent-mindedly, sometimes forming thickets in weedy places, fallow lands, wastelands (hence the Russian name for the plant), along the edges of fields, along roads, along cliffs, at fences. It occurs in small groups among thickets of bushes, in forest glades, forest edges, in forest belts, in pastures.
Motherwort five-lobed is more widespread in the middle and southern regions of the European part, Crimea, and the Caucasus; found in Western Siberia, as well as in the northwest of the European part of our country. Often forms thickets at the site of former buildings.
Only the tops are suitable
Medicinal raw materials are stem tops up to 40 cm long with flowers and leaves (grass).
Wild motherwort is harvested at the beginning of flowering of the lower flower whorls (in June-August), cutting off the tops of the stems and side shoots with flowers and leaves with knives, sickles or pruners. Rough stems thicker than 5 mm, as well as damaged or yellowed leaves, are not allowed in the raw materials. The raw material of late harvest with strongly lignified sepals and prickly teeth is considered a marriage; there should be no plants harvested during fruiting. Cleaning is best done after dew has melted in dry weather. The cut grass is quickly sent to dryers (artificial drying temperature 50-60 ° C), to attics or under sheds, preventing self-heating of the green mass. With natural drying, it is necessary to provide good ventilation, spread the grass on a cloth, paper or other clean surface with a layer of 5-7 cm and stir it periodically.Drying time is about one week. The end of drying is determined by the fragility of the stem.
The shelf life of raw materials is 3 years.
From the forest to the garden
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Motherwort introduced into culture. It is cultivated in many farms specializing in the cultivation of medicinal plants. At the Srednevolzhskaya zonal experimental station VILAR, the Samarsky variety was bred and zoned. Possible culture in personal plots.
The very extensive natural range of motherwort indicates its good adaptability to various soil and climatic conditions. It is successfully cultivated on sod-podzolic soils, on leached dry chernozems and podzolized soils. The culture is extremely unpretentious to soil fertility and moisture supply.
Soil preparation for motherwort does not have any peculiarities and is carried out according to general rules. Motherwort is cultivated in one place for 3-4 years. To obtain a high yield of grass during the entire cultivation period, 8-10 kg / m2 of organic fertilizers and 40 g / m2 of mineral fertilizers in terms of ammofoska should be applied under the digging of the plot.
Freshly harvested motherwort seeds have a reduced germination rate (30-35%) and an extended period of germination. As the seeds are stored, they undergo post-harvest ripening, and their germination rate after 2 months is 80-85%. Seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of + 2 + 4 ° С, the optimum temperature is + 20 ° С. The first shoots appear in favorable conditions for 4-5 days, but the general period of germination is extended and lasts 15-20 days. Seeds belong to the group of mesobiotics and even at the 46th year of storage, their germination remains within 75-80% of the original. The total life span of seeds is 8-9 years.
For autumn sowing, before winter (7-10 days before the onset of permanent frosts), dry seeds are used, seeding them to a depth of 1-1.5 cm with a seeding rate of 1 g / m2. With spring sowing, seeds can be stratified within a month at a temperature of 0 + 4 ° C. In this case, they are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm with a seeding rate of 0.8 g / m2.. When sowing, 3 g of granular superphosphate or nitrophosphate is used together with seeds per 1 m2. Row spacing 60-70 cm.
Care consists in loosening row spacings, removing weeds, fertilizing, watering during a dry period. Top dressing in the first year of life is carried out one month after the emergence of seedlings, and the passing areas should be fed twice: in early spring and after the first harvest. The application rate of mineral fertilizers in each case is 20 g of nitrogen and 25 g of phosphorus per 1 m2.
Passing crops are harrowed in early spring, and then fed and loosened. Harvesting is best done in the second year after sowing. Motherwort grass is harvested in the phase of mass flowering when 1/3 flowers open in the lower part of the inflorescence. The upper leafy part of the plant is cut off. The second collection is carried out a month and a half after the first. The seeds are harvested by hand when they are fully ripe. Seed plots are not used for raw materials.
The yield of dry grass for two harvests is up to 800-900 g / m2, seeds - up to 50 g / m2.
Photo from the GreenInfo.ru forum, Andrey Shchukin, Maxim Minin
