2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The spring forest beckons with its transformation after a long winter hibernation. It is in May - June that a quiet hunt for the most ancient plant on the planet, the fern, begins
Hunters - naturalists visit forest lands not only in search of spring morels, but also to please themselves with edible fern species. Now on planet Earth there are a large number of fern species that have come from prehistoric times. However, not every fern is edible and healthy. In this article we will talk about the famous fern - common bracken.
Where to find bracken fern?
Bracken prefers solar forests, grows in the southern and northern hemispheres. In Russia, this fern found particular fame in the Far East, although it also grows in the Urals, Siberia and even in the European part of the country, choosing edges, felling sites or forest fires. It grows well on dry, light and poor soils. If you want to plant a fern in your area, then choose darkened places. Due to vegetative propagation, the fern is able to quickly create thickets and dominate the grass cover.
Description of bracken fern
This name was given to the fern for a reason. Translated from Latin, Pteridium aquillinum means "eagle's wing". The plant received this name for the resemblance of the leaf petiole to the wing of a bird. Although there is another explanation. By cutting off the stem, you can see how the vascular bundles form a figure similar in outline to a two-headed eagle.
Common bracken is a representative of perennial ferns and belongs to the Hypolepis family. The fern reaches a height of 30 to 100 cm and has two types of rhizomes. The first is horizontal, creeping, strong and thick, black in color, leaves do not form on it, but elongated growths appear every year. The second, shortened rhizome is formed from the lateral growth points and forms single patterned leaves called "frond", which in Greek means palm branch. Considering the peculiarity of growth, the bracken does not form bushes and it seems that each plant is located one by one. But underground, each specimen of a fern is connected by a branched rhizome.
Collection and procurement
In the Far East, fern harvesting begins in mid-May and is put on stream, in contrast to the European part of Russia. It is important not to miss the moment of harvesting bracken shoots, because the growth of the plant is rapid. Go first for the fern on the sunny slopes, and then look for it in hollows, ravines and shady forests. Track the growth of the shoots. It is advisable to collect for eating fragile dark green sticks of shoots with a snail-shaped curved flyer, inside which are the rudiments of leaves rolled into a spiral.
Fern shoots with a life span of 2 - 3 days, a height of up to 20 cm and a diameter of no more than 5 mm are suitable for the preparation of medicines and direct consumption. If during the collection you find plants with blossoming leaves, then it is better to pass by. The unwinding leaves indicate that the taste of the fern is reduced, the stems are no longer so delicate and very fibrous. Cut no more than three rachis (shoots) from one plant so that the plant does not weaken. Cut shoots must be processed immediately, after four hours they coarsen and lose their medicinal value, including taste. In rare cases, the bracken can be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Benefits and Applications
Fern sprouts contain vitamins, catechins, flavonoids, fatty oils, carotene, tocopherol, glycosides, niacin, tannin, starch and many substances from the periodic table of chemical elements. Such a rich composition guarantees that the plant has healing properties. The use of ferns neutralizes the action of bacteria, activates anabolic processes, normalizes the functioning of the reproductive system and metabolism, and increases efficiency. The beneficial properties of the fern are based on wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antipyretic action. Decoctions of herbs and fern rhizomes help with intestinal diseases, diarrhea, aching joints, as a lotion for wounds, eczema, abscesses.
Only boiled fern is eaten. Young shoots can be fried, pickled, and salted. The bracken fern tastes a bit like mushrooms.
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Bracken
Bracken (lat.Pteridium) - winter-hardy shade-tolerant fern from the Dennstedtiye family. This fern received such an interesting name for the unusual shape of its leaves (from the Greek words aquila - eagle and pteris - wing). Description The bracken is a very beautiful fern, the height of which can reach one and a half meters.
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