2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Goat's rue (lat. Galega officinalis) - a herbaceous perennial plant of the genus Galega (lat. Galega) of the legume family (lat. Fabaceae). Although the appearance of a lush plant with openwork foliage and racemose light purple inflorescences is quite decorative and capable of decorating a flower garden, Goat's rue is more valued for its healing abilities. In addition, livestock owners use the plant as feed for their animals. Gardeners who are committed to maintaining their green economy without the use of chemicals resort to the plant, using it as a green fertilizer when it is necessary to restore soil fertility.
What's in your name
We have already figured out the meaning of the Latin name of the genus in the previous article, and the specific epithet is quite understandable without additional explanations. Therefore, it is only worth noting the numerous synonymous names.
Among them there are such as Galega officinalis, Goat's rue, Goat rue and many others, in which people emphasize the plant's useful capabilities for humans, based on centuries of experience.
Description
The goat's rue is a typical representative of the small genus Galega. This is a perennial herb, at the base of which lies an underground thick rhizome, giving birth to a branching stem in spring, rather thin, but strong. Plant height varies from eighty to one hundred centimeters.
Despite the small thickness of the stem, he manages to keep numerous foliage, consisting of complex unpaired leaves. Each individual leaflet has an oval-oblong shape and a sharp spine at the rounded end, as a continuation of the central vein of the leaf plate, which has escaped beyond its limits. A compound leaf also consists of pairs of leaves, the number of which varies from three to nine.
In the middle of summer, peduncles appear from the axils of the upper leaves, showing the world typical moth flowers, collected in racemose inflorescences and painted in white-violet-blue shades.
The culmination of the vegetation cycle is the traditional bean pod, almost straight and with a smooth skin that protects the beans from adversity until they are fully ripe.
Healing abilities
The chemical composition of the herb of the plant endows it with medicinal properties, which are used by traditional healers. The main use of medicinal tinctures and extracts from the Goat's rue herb is associated with mild forms of diabetes, as they can lower sugar levels. Also, herbs from the plant are used as a diaphoretic, diuretic. They also fight worms with the help of a plant.
The herb is also recommended for lactation for nursing mothers, but you should be
careful with dosage medicines, since in plant tissues
contains rather toxic constituents … In addition, overdose can increase blood pressure and disrupt normal bowel function.
For example, the literature describes cases when crushed fresh stems of a plant were thrown into a body of water to stupefy a fish. The fish, which was unconscious from toxic substances, floated to the surface, and the "fishermen" could only collect it with improvised means, rejoicing at the successful catch.
However, grass has been successfully used as feed for livestock, with the belief that eating the aerial parts helps increase milk production in lactating goats and cows.
Like most plants of the legume family, Goat's rue is an excellent soil healer, enriching its chemical composition with nitrogen. Therefore, gardeners use grass as a green fertilizer.
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Goat's Rue, Or Galega
Goat's rue, or Galega (lat.Galega) - a small genus of herbaceous perennial plants belonging to the glorious legume family (lat. Fabaceae). This very decorative tall plant is grown by gardeners to decorate flower beds. It is believed that the Goat's rue used to feed livestock increases milk production.