Gryzhnik

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

Herniar (lat. Herniaria) - a genus of herbaceous plants of the Clove family (lat. Caryophyllaceae). Hernia is a creeping plant with short stems, small leaves and miniature flowers that gather in modest glomeruli of inflorescences in the leaf axils. The small size of the plant does not prevent it from having healing abilities, and therefore is actively used by folk healers. The saponins contained in the plant transform Gryzhnik into a kind of natural detergent that can be used to wash the hair of pets, ridding them of dust, dirt and insects that like to settle in their natural clothes.

What's in your name

The Latin name of the genus "Herniaria" is based on the word "Hernia" which means "hernia" in Latin. The reason for this name was the healing ability of plants of the genus to help people improve their health in such a disaster as a hernia.

Since the plant is popular among the people, it has many synonymous names. Among them are such as: Hernia grass, Hernia, Keel grass, Ostudnik, Fringed grass, Broom, Field soap, Dog soap.

Description

Among the representatives of the genus, there are annual and perennial plants. The basis of perenniality is a taproot with a woody surface and surrounded by numerous side roots.

From the root to the surface of the earth, numerous short stems are born, the length of which ranges from twenty to twenty-five centimeters. The stems are very branched and spread along the ground, sheltering it from the sun's rays with a dense greenish-yellow carpet.

Solid small leaves, oppositely located on the stem, give the carpet density. The color of the leaf plate is yellowish-green, therefore, a living carpet shimmers under the rays of the sun with these shades. Nature supplemented the leaves with ciliate whitish-filmy stipules. The shape of the fleshy leaves is oblong-oval, with a sharp or rounded end.

To match the size of the plant, miniature flowers are born in the axils of small leaves from May to August, five threadlike petals of which are painted yellowish-green or green. You will not immediately notice them against the background of greenish-yellow leaves and five sepals, often of unequal sizes. Flowers form small glomeruli - spike-capitate inflorescences, gathering in groups of five to twelve pieces. They can be same-sex or hermaphrodite (bisexual). In the center of the flower there is one column, topped with two stigmas and surrounded by two to five stamens.

Hernica fruit is a spherical or oblong nut that does not open. Since it is also small in size, it carries only one smooth and shiny seed, which has the shape of a lens painted in a dark brown color. The fruits themselves are filmy and dry, ripen from July to September.

Varieties

The genus Gryzhnik cannot boast of a great variety, numbering today in its ranks about forty species of plants. Among them are the following:

* Smooth hernia (lat. Herniaria glabra)

* Gryzhnik Caucasian (lat. Herniaria caucasica)

* Gryzhnik grayish (lat. Herniaria incana)

* Gryzhnik shaggy (lat. Herniaria hirsuta)

* Polygamous hernia (lat. Herniaria polygama).

Usage

The miniature size of the plant is more than compensated for by its love of life and the ability to cover large areas with a continuous protective carpet, turning Gryzhnik into an excellent ground cover living means.

The healing abilities of the plant are expressed in its very name. A number of species of the genus are actively used by folk healers for the treatment of all kinds of hernias.

The saponins contained in the tissues of the plant make the plant a helper for owners who love to keep their pets clean and well-groomed. To do this, they wash the fur of animals with the grass of the plant, which makes the pets not only clean, but also relieves for some time from annoying insects.