2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Gryzhnik Caucasian (lat. Herniaria caucasica) - rather a miniature semi-shrub with woody stems, but is considered a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Herniaria, ranked by botanists in the Clove family (Latin Caryophyllaceae). All its aboveground parts are small in size, which does not prevent the plant from being hardy and creeping along the stony slopes of the Caucasus, protecting the stone from destruction and preventing the formation of talus and landslides. Bright green leaves and tiny tiny flowers are a wonderful decoration of gray stones of rocky mountain slopes, on which not any terrestrial plant will hold.
What's in your name
It is believed that the Latin name of the small genus "Herniaria" is based on the ability of plants of the genus to help people fight such an unpleasant ailment as "hernia", which periodically pesters a person since ancient times and is a fairly common disease of modern life, full of stress and depression.
The specific epithet "caucasica" indicates the place of growth of this species, although the Caucasian Gryzhnik can be found not only on the mountain slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, but also on the slopes of the Tien Shan, located in Asia, in the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula and other mountainous areas where the climate is suitable for the plant …
The first description of this species belongs to Franz Joseph Ruprecht (1814 - 1870), a botanist with German roots, who served in Russia, in St. Petersburg. Among his works is a book dedicated to the plants of the Caucasus. Hence the species epithet "Caucasian" was born.
Description
Caucasian herb is a bright green (sometimes dull) perennial herb with a tree root. It looks more like a miniature dwarf shrub, capable of creating turf on rocky slopes, protecting rocks from the destructive forces of the sun, wind and water.
Young herbaceous ascending stems, five to fifteen centimeters long, develop over time into woody, flowing, but not rooting. At a young age, the stems may be pubescent. Herbaceous stems are covered with yellowish-green or light green small leaves, the leaf blade of which is almost completely naked. Only sometimes hairy cilia are located closer to the apex of the leaf. The shape of the leaf plate can be oval with a bordered edge, or ovoid or obovate, wedge-shaped damping towards the base of the leaf. As for the ovoid stipules, their edges are decorated with ciliate fringes.
Flowers are born in June-August, appearing in the leaf axils, forming a cluster or a cluster of miniature flowers with five ciliated-marginal sepals on a short stem. Five stamens alternate with sterile petals, purple anthers. Pistils (columns) are very short, but well visible, with deep lobes.
After pollination, the flowers turn into ovoid-elliptical dry capsules-fruits, hiding for the time being smooth and shiny disc-shaped seeds, colored with a dark brown color.
Abilities of the Caucasian Gryzhnik
In terms of its healing abilities, the Caucasian Gryzhnik does not differ from other species of the genus, fully justifying its name given to it by botanists. But, due to the inaccessibility of the places of its growth, the plant has not been noticed in its active use for medicinal purposes. This is very useful for rocky mountain slopes, for which the plant is a protective cover from destruction.
The plant fully justifies its purpose on our amazingly beautiful and harmoniously arranged planet with its protective function in relation to rocky massifs.
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