Grushanka

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Grushanka (lat. Pyrola) - a genus of herbaceous plants of the Heather family. The genus includes 40 species. Popular names are umbrella winter lover, black leaf, live grass, may grass, wild incense, fireball or pear. The genus is circumpolar boreal. Representatives of the genus are found naturally in the temperate and arctic belts of the Northern Hemisphere. Only four species grow in Russia. Typical places are coniferous and deciduous forests.

Characteristics of culture

Grushanka is a perennial plant with a branched and long rhizome, from the nodes of which aerial stems and adventitious roots are formed. The stem of the plant is finely ribbed, up to 30-40 cm high. The leaves are leathery, hard, glossy, rounded, oval or ovate, crenate or entire, sitting on petioles, collected in a rosette.

Flowers drooping or deviated, collected in sparse, straight brushes. Corolla is white, fragrant, five-lobed, spherical or cupped. The petals are thickened, concave, obtuse, orbicular-ovate. Pedicels are long, formed from the axils of the bracts. The fruit of a wintergreen is a drooping box.

The culture blooms in June-July, the fruits ripen in August-September, which largely depends on the climatic conditions of cultivation. Almost all representatives of the genus Grushanka are characterized by symbiosis with fungi, and this primarily concerns the early stages of culture development, because seeds feed on mycorrhiza during germination.

Growing conditions

Wintergreens prefer shady areas with moist, loose, sandy and slightly acidic soil. The presence of fungal hyphae in the soil is necessary, since plants are in symbiosis with fungi. Such soil can be brought to the site from the places of natural growth of the wintergreen. Fallen leaves or peat can be used to acidify the soil. A layer of the listed natural materials is laid as mulch in the near-stem zone.

Reproduction

The wintergreen is propagated by seeds and division. The second method is not always appropriate and feasible, since the culture has a negative attitude to the division of the root system. However, under favorable growing conditions, the cuttings take root quickly.

Care

Care is standard: watering, loosening, weeding and feeding. Although the latter procedure is optional. Mulching immediately after watering will keep the soil moist for longer and free from weeds.

Application

Grushanka is ideal for creating shady flower beds. Among the representatives, the most decorative species is considered to be the round-leaved wintergreen; during flowering, it pleases the eye with lush inflorescences consisting of carved white flowers. The plant is widely used in folk medicine. Decoctions and infusions from the aerial parts of the wintergreen are used in the treatment of headaches, inflammation of the bladder, kidney disease, as well as rheumatism and dropsy.

Wintergreen is used as an antipyretic and antibacterial agent. Rinsing the mouth with infusions of wintergreen leaves helps to get rid of bad breath from other diseases (stomatitis, periodontal disease, etc.). Infusions are useful for shortness of breath and severe fatigue. The value of the herb in question is obvious, because it contains a large amount of vitamins, minerals and flavonoids.