The herbaceous perennial plant swimsuit (Trollius) is a member of the Buttercup family. In nature, it is found in Asia, North America and Europe, while in Western Europe it grows in the mountains, and in Eastern Europe in forest glades, meadows and river valleys. Such a plant is widespread in Asia; it can be found in the wild almost everywhere, except for the southern regions. And in North America, you can find only a couple of types of swimwear. It is believed that the Latin name of the plant is derived from the German word "Trollblume", which means "troll flower". According to another version, this name is considered to be derived from the ancient Germanic word "troll", translated as "ball", this is due to the appearance of the bush itself and its flowers. The emergence of the name "swimsuit" is due to the fact that such a culture prefers to grow in humid places. The Plant List contains a description of 29 types of swimwear.
Description of the plant European swimsuit
The bather is referred to as a biennial plant. The development of the root and the laying of the leaf outlet occurs in the first year, and in the second year, the appearance and growth of the stem, as well as the flowering of the plant, occurs.
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Ivan Kuznetsov
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After the growing season, the plant dies. The bather is propagated by seeds. In addition to the main stem, the culture actively forms lateral shoots that end in buds. The flower of the swimsuit is at least 5 cm in diameter, and the bud itself consists of 20 petals, which are yellow in color, but there are also orange specimens.
A distinctive feature of the culture is in bright spherical inflorescences
Basically, the plant does not grow above half a meter, while individual plant specimens can reach 60 cm. This depends on the saturation of the soil with microelements. When you plan to plant a swimsuit in your garden, this must be taken into account, because if the soil is well fertilized, the plant can grow up to a meter in height.
How to plant correctly
The bather is bred with cuttings, rosettes and seeds. Sunny areas are chosen for planting. In a permanent place, the trollius will bloom for up to 10 years and gradually grow.
What are the optimal soils:
- Medium and light loamy;
- PH is closer to neutral at 5.5-6.4;
- With a sufficient content of organic matter and nutrients;
Stagnation of groundwater and waterlogging at the landing site is undesirable.
Sowing with seeds
Seeds are sown in late summer or throughout autumn in boxes. The soil substrate is prepared on the basis of the following components:
- 1 part leafy garden or park turf;
- 0.5 parts sand;
- 1 part rotted compost;
- 0.5 parts peat.
In order for the mixture to better retain moisture, finely chopped sphagnum is additionally introduced. Seedlings make their way out of the soil slowly. Seedlings become visible in May. Even before the leaves appear, they begin to water. When diving, they are seated at a distance of 6-9 cm. Diving is carried out in the presence of two real leaves.
When sowing seeds in spring, the sowing material is kept for 3-4 months in the refrigerator in the fruit and vegetable department at a temperature of 2-3 degrees.
Reproduction by divisions
The optimal age for dividing the curtain is 5-6 years. Timing:
- late spring;
- beginning of autumn;
- In the middle of summer, after flowering stops.
The bushes are dug up, the roots are slightly washed. Using a sharp pruner, the rhizome is cut into 3-6 parts. Each division should have 3-4 rosettes and renewal buds, developed roots. Small divisions take longer to take root.
To stimulate the root system, you can soak in "Kornevin" or "Epin" for 5-6 hours. It is advisable to plant immediately. The distance between plants is 30-40 cm. The optimum planting density is 6-8 pcs per 1 m2 of flower garden. The root collar is deepened by 2 cm.
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Propagation by cuttings
The procedure is carried out in spring or summer. For cuttings, shoots are cut at the base of the bushes. Rosettes with pieces of rhizome are also used. They are treated with activators for root formation - "Agate", "Zircon". For rooting, cuttings are placed in the following formulations:
- Perlite;
- Peat and sand.
Chemical composition and medicinal properties
The healing qualities of this plant have been appreciated since the days of Ancient Rus. Nowadays, traditional medicine continues to widely use the flower to heal pathologies such as:
- liver failure;
- gastrointestinal problems;
- swelling;
- disease of the genitourinary system;
- abscesses and boils;
- skin eczema.
In the treatment of insomnia, a decoction from the leaves of the swimsuit is used. Since this plant is poisonous, it is used with extreme caution for therapeutic purposes.
The poison is in the rhizome of the plant, but ointments, powders and decoctions are prepared from the outer parts of the plants. Self-medication with such means should not be dealt with, it is better to first get advice from a herbalist who specializes in the use of this plant.
This culture is considered as a therapeutic drug with an antitumor effect, however, practical tests have not been carried out. People who are ignorant of herbal medicine should not use it in cooking and as a medicinal product, despite its valuable qualities in these areas, but it is better to enjoy the beauty during the flowering period of the bathing suit.
The plant is used in folk medicine
Improper use of this plant can lead to poisoning. In the past, a decoction from a bathing suit was used to drive out lice, fleas and other parasites from the house, as well as treated pets from them.
Plant name
In different regions of Russia a swimsuit called by different names: kupava, kupavka, lights, beaters, frying, bells.
In the Scandinavian countries, the name of the plant is associated a beautiful legend about the spirits of nature - elves. On June nights, tiny elves brew the elixir of life. As soon as it gets dark, they put tall poles with round golden vessels in the meadow. Elves work all night, prepare an elixir in vessels, and with the first rays of the sun pour the finished potion into bottles and hide it. At dawn, the elves disappear, and beautiful flowers remain in the meadow, like rounded golden vessels on high poles.
Use in traditional medicine
The European bather has not been studied by official medicine as a medicinal plant. The antitumor properties of substances have long attracted scientists from all over the world to this culture, but the effect of these substances on the human body has not been studied.
Despite the fact that the swimsuit is toxic, it is widely used in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, furunculosis, tumors, and the same for liver disease and edema. With dropsy, menstrual irregularities in women, scabies and epilepsy, it is recommended to use the infusion of the roots of the European bathing suit from traditional medicine.Liver diseases and scurvy are well treated with bather flowers. This plant has found application even in veterinary medicine, its aerial part is used to treat diseases of the udder in cows.
European swimsuit poisonous plant! The use of a drug based on this plant requires caution, both with its internal use in treatment, and with its external use. Particular care should be taken when using the roots of the swimsuit, as it can damage the nervous system. A contraindication in the use of a European swimsuit is pregnancy, lactation and childhood. In case of allergic reactions, you should immediately stop using the drug based on this plant.
It has been proven that the roots and flowers of the European swimsuit have antibacterial, diuretic, choleretic, decongestant and anti-inflammatory properties. The plant helps to reduce the tone of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract and gallbladder, and can also cause a slight expansion of the liver vessels.
Types of swimwear
Scientists know about 30 species of this flower. Different species grow in different regions, they differ in the size and color of the flower. In the tundra, these are undersized flowers up to 30 cm, in meadows and forest edges they grow up to 80 cm high.
- Swimsuit European. This species is common in Europe and western Siberia. Her flowers are pale yellow. It is this species that is mentioned in the Scandinavian legend about elves.
- Swimsuit Asian. This species is found in Western and Eastern Siberia, in Altai. Differs in large orange flowers.
Many modern garden hybrids were obtained from crossing European and Asian swimsuits.
Varietal features
There are several popular varieties of bikini:
- Asian: the height of the plant can reach 50 cm. The perianth is yellow or orange with 5-20 petals. Blooms from May to late August. Listed in the Red Book of Siberia.
- European: the buds are shaped like lemon-yellow balls. Blooms from May to June. It is found mainly in Scandinavian countries and in regions of Russia with a temperate climate.
- Altai: outwardly very similar to the Asian one. The only difference is that the middle of the flower is not yellow, but black and red.
The best varieties of the swimsuit: 1 - Asian, 2 - European, 3 - Altai
In addition, the lilac and hybrid swimsuit are often grown in the gardens. They are not very different from their wild relatives in appearance, but are considered more valuable due to the long flowering period.
Popular varieties
Numerous cultural varieties of swimsuits have been bred, differing in brightness of shades. There are differences in the appearance, timing and duration of flowering. The color spectrum is cream, light, bright, darkish shades of yellow and orange. The group of yellowish swimsuits is represented by the following hybrids:
- bright Light Ball;
- light lemon Lemon Queen;
- colorful Goldquale;
- pale yellowish Canary bird.
Many swimsuits have original and large flowers. Maygold looks attractive, combining the signs of a bell and a swimsuit. The orange ball is tightly closed before blooming, and then elegant stamens and nectaries appear.
The cultural swimsuit is the most common hybrid. Peduncles 35-40 cm, rosette 20-30 cm. Several troleus were used to create:
- European;
- Altaic;
- Asiatic;
- Large-leaved.
On its basis, hybrid orange varieties have been bred with a variety of colors - from pale golden to bright saturated with reddish tints. Among the orange representatives, there are many attractive hybrid varieties:
- Reddish Orange King, Orange Princess;
- Light-colored Orange Cross, Goliath;
- Dark bright Golden Queen, Etna, Orange Queen.
Unusual grade Alabaster.It differs from all swimsuits in a pale cream shade, massive inflorescences up to 6-7 cm and compact small size. The bushes do not exceed 30-35 cm in height.
Watering and fertilizing
It is necessary to water the swimsuit all summer so that the soil around the plant does not dry out. Water is poured only at the root. Mulching the bushes will help keep moisture in the ground. It is also necessary to remove weeds and loosen the soil around the flower.
Every four years, the plant must be fertilized with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers to form a large number of buds and its abundant flowering. In autumn, leaves and shoots are necessarily cut off to a height of 5 cm. Several times a year, small amounts of peat are introduced under the bush.
Watering the plant should be abundant, but without waterlogging.
In autumn, the bushes must be treated with wood ash and the lower leaves are removed so that the swimsuit is not affected by fungal diseases, for example, a penetrating short-bodied nematode.
Caring for a swimsuit in the garden
Transplanted young swimsuits need to be systematically watered and protected from direct sunlight for the first four weeks. Bushes at the age of 2-3 years, growing in sunny areas, have a height of about 0.5-0.6 m. If the swimsuit is planted in a shaded place, then by this time its height may be 0.8-0.9 m, at the same time, both leaf petioles and shoots grow longer. But it should be borne in mind that a bush grown in a shaded place blooms less abundantly, and the color of its flowers is not so saturated. If, for a flower, an area located in the shade is selected, then its development and growth takes place more slowly, while in this case it reaches its maximum value only at 6 or 7 years. Lack of light has an extremely negative effect on the splendor of the flowering, as well as on the color of the flowers, which becomes very pale.
How to water and feed
Both young and adult bushes should be watered systematically and abundantly, especially in dry and hot periods. You need to water the swimsuit with settled warm water, which should be heated by the sun, and this is a prerequisite. Experienced gardeners recommend placing a large container on the garden plot in a well-lit place, in which water will collect during the rain. After the rain has passed or the plant is watered, it is imperative to loosen the soil surface, while pulling out all the weeds.
During watering, the plant can be fed with a urea solution (for 10 liters of water, 1 tsp. Substance). It also reacts well to feeding with Agricola or Nitrofoska, while the solution should be prepared in the same way as the urea solution. You need to feed the flowers during the opening of the buds, as well as before they bloom.
How to propagate and transplant
This crop can be grown from seeds, but this method of propagation is not very popular among gardeners. As a rule, such a plant is propagated by dividing the curtain, it is carried out 1 time in 5 years in the last days of August or in the first days of September. Healthy and well-developed bushes, which should be 5-6 years old, are suitable for dividing. Such bushes are distinguished by a large amount of vitality, which is very important for such a plant, since it does not tolerate transplantation well. These shrubs tend to withstand the stress of transplanting much easier.
The parent bush is removed from the soil, residues of soil must be removed from its root system, after which it is thoroughly washed. After that, with a very sharp disinfected knife, the bush is cut into several parts, it should be noted that each division must have several rosette stems with roots. Places of cuts are subjected to processing with wood ash or a solution of potassium permanganate.Then, parts of the bush must be immediately planted in the holes, which must be prepared in advance, a distance of 0.3 to 0.4 m should be kept between them. After planting, the root collar of the cut should be buried in the ground by 20-30 mm, while the foliage at they need to be removed. Young leaf plates will grow back after half a month.
Wintering
This culture is highly resistant to frost, therefore, it is not necessary to cover the bushes for the winter. In September or October, the leaf plates of the bush should die off, after which they are removed in such a way that only petioles, reaching 20-30 mm in length, rise above the surface of the site. These petioles can provide protection to the bud located in the middle of the outlet. A peduncle will grow from this bud next year.
Diseases and pests
This plant has a very high resistance to diseases and pests. However, although it is rare, the plant still gets sick. Most often, it is improper care that causes fungal infections of the bushes, for example: smut or septoria. If the plants get sick, then as soon as this happens, it is necessary to cut off the affected parts of the bush or dig up the whole plants and destroy them, the surface of the soil and flowers must be sprayed with a fungicidal preparation. It is important to understand why the infection occurred and try to eliminate any deficiencies in care.
Spread
You can meet the swimsuit both in the garden and in the wild. Cultivation of plants as ornamental began quite recently. In Altai, Siberia and Central Russia, in spring, bright flowers can be found in meadows, glades, in well-lit forests.
Moist, loose soil, bright sunlight and warm air are ideal conditions for this perennial. In the European part of the mainland, these are more often mountain plants.
The use of a flower in landscape design
The bather is also used for decorative purposes. It is used to decorate the soda area, as well as the area with the rock garden... Flowers with bright orange and bright yellow flowers look very beautiful.
The unpretentiousness of the swimsuit allows you to decorate almost any area
Looks very elegant in combination with the blue shades of irises. Mixed landings are created with a swimsuit, and they also look good in single landings and in groups.
The bikini is used to create a decorative effect in the parkx. Flowers look beautiful when decorating the coastlines of reservoirs of various sizes.
Reproduction
In nature, the swimsuit reproduces by seeds. Ripening of leaflet fruits occurs about a month after flowering. The seeds are small, dark, with a shiny skin. In the first year after sowing, the plant is just beginning to form, most often there are no flowers.
You can reproduce a swimsuit in this way at home, but it will take a lot of effort. Seeds should be stratified in winter for 2-3 months in moist soil, planted in a greenhouse in early spring, and watch out for the shoots. The flowering of such plants usually occurs in 3-4 years.
Cultivated plants are more often propagated vegetatively - by parts of rhizomes or cuttings. This should be done in early spring or autumn.
When propagated by parts of the rhizome, a healthy, washed root is divided into several parts so that an shoot remains on each. Sections are treated with a manganese solution and planted.
Reproduction by cuttings should be carried out in the spring, before flowering begins. Ground shoots are cut and placed in water. When the plant has taken root, it can be planted. Planting shoots of the swimsuit must be carried out at a distance of at least 50 cm from each other, future bushes will grow.
Taxonomic affiliation and next of kin
This is a bright and elegant plant from the buttercup family. In total, botanists include more than 20 plant species in the genus of bathing suits.Their generic Latin name Trollius comes from the ancient Germanic word Troll, which means ball. This word is closely related to the name of small magical creatures - trolls, which, according to legend, could turn into round stones. Sometimes northern peoples call the bathing suit the troll flower.
The bather is a perennial plant with a short rhizome and a chic head of carved dark green leaves. It has a height of 30-70 cm, and when growing in the tundra, the height of the swimsuits can be only 20 cm, and in culture, under favorable conditions, it can reach a meter.
It has two types of leaves - basal, palmate, collected in a rosette and having long petioles and stems, similar in shape, but smaller. There are from 3 to 7 of them on each stem.
Flowers up to 5 cm in diameter, shaped like a ball, can have from 10 to 20 sepals, complemented by orange nectaries. The number of pistils and stamens is large and differs in different ecological groups. Larger flowers usually have a bright yellow color, and small ones are whitish, lemon. The fruits are prefabricated leaflets, the spout of which is steeply wrapped inward. The root system is fibrous, superficial, has a depth of no more than 60 cm. They begin to branch before the plant starts flowering.
Pests and diseases
The European bather, the photo of which is presented in this article, is a viable and strong plant. For its better growth, it is recommended to treat the soil with ash in early spring; with growth in the spring, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers is indicated. At the very beginning of flowering, it is good to sprinkle the plants with Epin. For the prevention of various fungal diseases in the fall, it is recommended to remove dead old leaves. Sometimes a swimsuit can be affected by smut, septoria, and short-bodied penetrating nematode.
Necessary security measures
Creation of an effective control system preventing the illegal collection of protected plants, including in protected areas. Strengthening explanatory work on the inadmissibility of collecting flowering plants in nature and the feasibility of growing cultivated varieties of the species in gardens and in personal plots. Compliance with the protected area protection regime in terms of prohibiting the collection and digging of plants, as well as limiting grazing and haymaking in terms of timing, areas and intensity. Control of the state of populations. It is advisable to preserve the gene pool of threatened populations under culture conditions by growing plants from seeds and subsequent reintroduction.
Landing
One of the important aspects in this matter is the choice of a landing site. The best place would be a small shade... The plant loves direct sunlight, but not all the time. For some time he needs to take a break from the sun so that the leaf blades open the stomata and take in more air.
If the plant is not provided with such conditions, then the swimsuit will grow much smaller. And the most important thing is that in this state the flower will not be able to bloom for a long time.
The best places for a swimsuit will be shading under a tree, bushas well as between stones.
The plant tolerates low temperatures well and is considered quite winter hardy. Therefore, during the winter months, it does not need to be covered.
A beautiful plant is not too demanding on the quality of the soil. It can be safely planted in unprepared land.
A more suitable soil for a flower will be medium loamy. If the soil contains a higher percentage of clay, it can lead to stagnation of water.... As you know, the bikini does not tolerate this.
The bather is unpretentious, so the planting of this plant may not be accompanied by additional soil preparation
For better growth in the ground, you can add 5 to 6 kilograms of peat, one tablespoon of nitrophosphate and a small amount of humus per square meter.
The plant tolerates planting well and does not require special conditions. Planting is best done before the end of August, otherwise the flower may not have time to form immunityt and accumulate enough nutrients for a good wintering. Despite its high winter hardiness, a weakened plant may not withstand too low temperature conditions.
Is the plant listed in the Red Book
Despite the fact that the distribution area of the plant is large, the common swimsuit is included in the Red Book in some regions. On the territory of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia and in some European countries, this flower is a protected species.
Such a plant is a very valuable melliferous plant, as well as wild-growing swimsuits provide breeders with rich material for creating garden hybrids. Thoughtless gathering of bright colors causes irreparable damage to this species and does not allow it to reproduce peacefully. That is why the flower needed a letter of protection.
As mentioned earlier, the plant develops within two years, which means that it takes two years for new flowers to appear. Only then will a fully developed specimen drop the seeds into the ground. Therefore, you should think about the next time you want to collect a bouquet of bright yellow "lanterns".
