2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Scandix comb (Latin Scandix pecten veneris) is a herbaceous edible annual plant that has many names. The comb-like bristles of the fruit of the plant served as a model for the name of botanists, reminding them of a comb for combing hair. The openwork leaves of Scandix combi make it attractive as an ornamental plant, and their healing powers are used by healers.
What's in your name
The comb scandix, which was born in the wheat fields of England as a weed, with its strange fruits sticking out like sharp needles among the golden ears of wheat, caused many associations among farmers with the myths and legends for which people are so rich. From here, different names of the plant were born.
From the foggy expanses of England, Scandix crested moved to the European continent, where it quickly mastered large territories, reaching the Crimea and the Caucasus. But even this seemed not enough to him, and the plant moved to Asia and to the lands of West Africa, acquiring new names. For example, in hot Algeria, the plant is called "Meshta", which in translation from Arabic symbolizes the same comb-comb.
But in the botanical world the Latin name "Pecten veneris" ("Crest of Venus"), recorded in "Natural History" by Pliny the Elder, the first encyclopedist of our planet, who worked in the 1st century AD.
Description
The sparsely hairy stems of an annual plant grow up to 50 cm in a short summer season, becoming hollow with age. On the petiole broadened at the base, there are pinnately incised decorative leaves. Umbrella inflorescences consist of small white bisexual flowers. The cylindrical shape of the fruit begins with a thickened body, occupying 1.5 cm of the entire length of the fruit, then there is a warlike beak-needle, up to 7 cm long. Scandix comb from its other relatives in the plant family, including from Kervel, with which it can be confused before the appearance of fruits.
Scandix comb is distinguished by its unpretentiousness to living conditions, resistance to drought. Although the plant is edible and has been actively used by people since ancient times, for farmers growing corn, wheat, sugar beets, it is an annoying weed that reduces the yield of crops grown.
Edible and healing plant
The edibility of Scandix is mentioned in ancient Greek texts dated back to the 5th century BC. Europeans used the tops of the plant in vegetable salads. And in the 1st century AD, listing the edible plants of Egypt, Pliny the Elder writes about him in his encyclopedic work.
Farmers' use of modern herbicides and the practice of burning stem residues in a harvested field have led to a dramatic reduction in Scandix crested in rural England. However, by the end of the 20th century, wild food enthusiasts noted that the ban on burning stubble in the country and the resistance of Scandix combus to herbicides made it possible to restore the plant's vigor. So, today lovers of Scandix comb have something to feast on.
The harvested herb of the plant during its flowering period (from May to June) is used by folk healers as a laxative and diuretic, relieve the condition of sick respiratory organs when coughing, contributing to better expectoration of sputum. It is believed that the herb Scandix comb is able to resist malignant tumors in the human body.
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Scandix Venus Comb
Scandix Venus comb is one of the plants of the family called Umbelliferae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound as follows: Scandix pecten-veneris L. As for the name of the Scandix Venus comb family itself, in Latin it will be: Apiaceae Lindl.
Star Scandix
Star scandix is one of the plants of the family called Umbelliferae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Scandix stellata Banks et Soland. As for the name of the star-shaped scandix family itself, in Latin it will be like this:
