2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Lokva (lat. Eriobotrya japonica) - a fruit crop, which is an excellent autumn honey plant and belongs to the Pink family. Its other names are shesek (shasik), Japanese medlar, Japanese eriobotria and nispero.
Description
Lokva is an ornamental fruit plant, the height of which can reach eight meters. Both its shoots and its inflorescences are painted in reddish-gray tones - this color is due to the dense tomentose pubescence. And the oval whole leaves of the lokva are seven to eight centimeters wide and twenty-five centimeters long. They can be either sessile or endowed with short petioles. From below, each leaf plate is pubescent, and from above, all the leaves shine very effectively.
The diameter of the loqua flowers is on average one to two centimeters, while all the flowers closer to the ends of the shoots fold into graceful erect panicles. Each flower includes five yellowish or white petals, and you can admire their flowering only in September or October. If the lokva is grown in a temperate climate, then it will bloom traditionally in the spring, and the ripe fruits can be harvested with the onset of autumn.
By the way, lokva flowers can boast of an incredibly pleasant smell, something similar to the scent of almonds - this property is very much appreciated by true connoisseurs of perfumery. It is also important to know that if you stand too long near flowering trees, your head can get quite bad.
With the onset of spring, mature trees are abundantly covered with yellow-orange pear-shaped fruits, collected in clusters, each of which has from one to eight fruits. The juicy pulp of the fruit includes from one to five fairly large seeds, which occupy a fairly significant part of their total volume. The pulp can be orange, yellow or white. Lokva fruits are very tasty, sweetish-sourish and somewhat reminiscent of cherry or juicy pear in taste. But in terms of chemical composition, lokva is close to apples.
Where grows
The homeland of this culture is the humid subtropics of China and Japan, where it grows mainly on picturesque mountain slopes. Lokva first came to Europe only in the nineteenth century. Now it can easily be found in the Caucasus (especially south of Tuapse, where you can see the lokva right on city streets) and in the Crimea - you can enjoy the fruits of the new harvest in these regions already in May.
Application
The edible fruit of the loqua is very rich in vitamin A and potassium, which provide them with a pronounced diuretic effect. Taking part in the water-electrolyte balance, potassium helps to remove excess fluid from the body, improve the rhythm of heart contractions and facilitate the work of the heart. It is especially desirable to use loqua for dropsy, heart failure, arrhythmia or hypertension.
Lokva is very rich in pectin, therefore, delicious marmalade and jelly are obtained from it, and the jam made from it is so thick that it does not slip off sandwiches at all. This fruit is also used to make an excellent wine.
Contraindications
In general, lokva is quite safe, therefore it has no serious contraindications. True, even despite the fact that it is practically not allergenic, the possibility of individual intolerance cannot be ruled out. The main thing is not to eat the leaves and seeds of lokva, as they contain cyanide glycosides that are dangerous to humans.
Growing and caring
Lokva is very hygrophilous, but at the same time it is very frost-resistant: it is able to withstand not only light frosts, but also a temperature drop to minus fourteen degrees. It grows mainly in a humid subtropical climate, but it is quite realistic to grow it in the temperate zone (in areas as close as possible to the border with the subtropics). By the way, lokva can be grown not only in the open field, but also in the most ordinary indoor conditions.
Each lokva tree is capable of producing up to seventy kilograms of fruit, and if the weather conditions are especially favorable, the volume of the harvest from one tree can reach three hundred kilograms.
