2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Shandra (lat. Marrubium) - a genus of annual and perennial grasses of the Yasnotkovye family. Natural range - North Africa, Europe and temperate regions of Asia. Typical habitats are dry southern slopes, fallows, springs and roadsides.
Characteristics of culture
Shandra is an annual or perennial plant up to 70 cm high with a white woody root. The stem is erect, medium branching. The leaves are petiolate, crenate, slightly drooping, ovate, wrinkled. Dark green on the outside, whitish-tomentose on the inside. The flowers are small, collected in dense false whorled inflorescences, equipped with linear-spherical bracts, do not have pedicels. Calyx 5-10 toothed, tubular. The corolla is two-lipped. The fruit is an obovate nutlet. Shandra blooms in July - August.
Growing conditions
In nature, shandra grows on dry and calcareous soils, but cultivated species are more demanding. Soils are preferable light, slightly acidic, moderately moist. Heavy and waterlogged soils are not suitable for shandra. When placing a crop, crop rotation is not taken into account. In the same place, the shandra is grown for 3-6 years, in the future, a transplant is necessary, otherwise the plants will become smaller. The location is sunny or semi-shaded.
The subtleties of cultivation
The plot for the culture is prepared in advance: the soil is dug up, compost or humus (4-5 kg per 1 sq. M.), Potassium sulfate (30-40 g per 1 sq. M.) And superphosphate (15-20 g per 1 sq. M.) m.). Sowing shandra is carried out in April - May. The planting depth is 1.5-2 cm. The distance between plants in a row should be about 20-25 cm, between rows - 40-50 cm.
Caring for shandra comes down to rare watering during a prolonged drought, feeding with ammonium nitrate in the phase of formation of 4-5 pairs of true leaves. Thinning as needed. The culture does not need treatments against the invasion of pests, since it has a pronounced citrus-mint aroma that frightens off intruders.
Application
Shandra is widely used in cooking and folk medicine. The stems and leaves of plants are used for the preparation of various drinks, flowers and buds are used as a spice to enrich the taste and aroma characteristics of vegetable, meat and fish dishes, as well as for the preparation of sauces and vinegars, and the aromatization of alcohol. The oil produced from the aerial part of the shandra is used for the manufacture of varnishes, paints, drying oils and preparations against fleas and bedbugs.
Shandra contains a large amount of tannin, essential oils, coumarins, vitamins, resinous and bitter substances, so it is simply irreplaceable in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory tract, liver and bladder. Herbal infusions are recommended for anemia, asthma, problems with the gastrointestinal tract and with fevers of various kinds. Shandra has soothing, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, astringent and antiarrhythmic properties.
