2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Chastukha is also called alisma or water shilnik. And for the similarity with a number of varieties of plantain, she was also nicknamed the water plantain. There are about ten varieties of this aquatic plant, which are quite widespread literally all over the world. However, most often you can find a chastoha in the Northern Hemisphere. It grows mainly in swampy meadows and swamps. A number of varieties of this attractive plant have proven themselves well in ornamental gardening - group plantings, including chastoha, look especially colorful
Getting to know the plant
Chastukha is a herbaceous perennial belonging to the family of the same name (Chastukhovye).
The rhizome of the chastuha is rather thick and very short, and the leaves equipped with long petioles form dense basal rosettes. This plant is distinguished by a pronounced heterophilia (this term is called variegation): its linear underwater leaves have parallel venation, and the above-ground leaves are characterized by ovoid or linear plates, heart-shaped or wedge-shaped bases, as well as campylodromic venation (lateral veins with this type of venation depart exclusively from the central veins and always directed to the edges of the leaves).
Peduncles appear from the centers of leaf rosettes. The flowers of the chastuha are equipped with three greenish sepals and a double perianth. They also have three petals - as a rule, they are falling, free and painted pinkish-white or just white. The petals growing under water may have underdeveloped petals. All flowers of this aquatic inhabitant are bisexual, equipped with a fairly solid number of carpels located on an almost flat receptacle and six stamens. Located whorled, they form pyramidal paniculate inflorescences. Chastuha blooms from July to August.
The fruits of this plant are small green many-roots flattened from the sides. There are one or two grooves on their backs. All fruits break down into so-called fruitlets - tiny floating segments. It is noteworthy that each fruit contains only one seed.
Using ditties
Some of the varieties of this aquatic beauty have found their application in ornamental gardening. They look especially impressive in wetlands of parks and gardens, as well as along the edges of ponds. It is best to select other groups of low plants intended for reservoirs for the vicinity of the dividing line.
The starch-rich rhizomes of common chastukh can be eaten after appropriate heat treatment. Baked rhizomes are especially tasty. Also chastuha is an excellent food for ducks and muskrats. It is also used in folk medicine.
How to grow
Chastuha grows well both in water and along the banks of various reservoirs. Fertile sandy or clayey soils are most suitable for growing it. It should also be borne in mind that the chastoha is very fond of the sun. However, a little shading will also not hinder its full development.
Chastoha propagates by division and seeds (seed reproduction is more usual for this plant). It should be planted to a depth of ten to thirty centimeters. By the way, such a variety of this aquatic perennial, as cereal ditches, is capable of excellent development even in salt water. When planting, they deepen it by five to ten centimeters, but even full immersion (somewhere up to 40 cm) it tolerates perfectly. The lanceolate chastuha is usually deepened by twenty centimeters. For this type of chastoha, reservoirs with both stagnant water and slowly flowing water are well suited. And Wallenberg's chastukha is distinguished by intolerance to the flooding of reservoirs, as well as to polluted water.
This attractive aquatic bog plant requires little or no maintenance. It is quite frost-resistant, which is especially appreciated in our latitudes, and does not require shelter for the winter. If chastoha grows in reservoirs of a solid size, it should be thinned periodically so that it does not capture the entire reservoir.
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