2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Bryonia, or Step (lat. Bryonia) Is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants of the Pumpkin family. Bryony is found naturally in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Central Asia and the European part of Russia. The most common species is white bryony, or white bryony (Latin Bryonia alba).
Characteristics of culture
Bryony is a herbaceous plant with a thick radish root and climbing stems. Separate or lobed leaves. The flowers are medium-sized, yellowish-white or yellowish-green, collected in axillary inflorescences. The fruit is a small berry, with a thin skin, reaches 0.5-1 cm in diameter, can have a reddish, greenish or black color.
White bryony (lat. Bryonia alba) - the species is represented by perennial plants with a rather large tuberous root and flexible stems climbing up the support due to antennae. Leaves are dark green, five-lobed, pubescent with sparse harsh hairs. The flowers are small, yellow, do not differ in decorative properties. The fruit is a juicy black berry.
Growing features
Bryony is propagated by seeds. They are sown in pre-prepared and fertilized areas. You can sow bryony in close proximity to fences, gazebos and other buildings. The location is preferably open sunny, the soil is light, loamy, fertile, moderately moist, drained. Sandy loam soils are not prohibited. It is undesirable to sow bryony in saline, waterlogged and marshy soils. You can propagate the culture by dividing the tuberous root. This procedure is carried out in the fall.
Caring for bryony consists of abundant watering, followed by weed removal and loosening. Before the onset of flowering, feeding is carried out with chicken droppings diluted in water in a ratio of 1:15. Organic fertilization is recommended in early spring. Mulching the near-stem zone is useful, but not necessary. Bryony is cultivated for decorative purposes, its berries are poisonous. For the winter, the plants are covered with spruce branches. All work with bryony should be carried out with gloves. Children should not come into contact with the plant, and even more so use their berries.
Application
Briony is suitable for vertical decoration of balconies, arches, fences and gazebos. Bryony white is used in folk medicine, in scientific practice it is not used at all because of the toxicity of all aerial parts. For medicinal purposes, the stems with leaves are cut into small pieces, dried under shady canopies and placed in a tightly closed container. Bryony roots are also beneficial. In autumn, they are dug up, thoroughly washed in cool water, cut into pieces 10-15 cm long, dried in a special dryer at a temperature of 50C. The roots are stored as well as the stems. The shelf life of medicinal raw materials is 3 years.
Decoctions and infusions from the roots are used externally in the treatment of migraines, gout, chronic inflammation of muscles and joints, as well as removing warts. Powder of dry bryony root is used as a wound healing agent. Decoctions from the roots and stems are useful for bronchitis, headaches, and inflammation of the pleura and lungs. The use of infusions is indicated for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, tuberculosis, edema of a different nature and tumors.
