Medicinal chamomile is a popular annual plant that grows in the vastness of Russia and belongs to the Astrov family. The Latin name translates as "uterine herb", which is associated with the key area where it was used - the elimination of female diseases. For a long time, chamomile was a wild-growing herb, but today it is grown in many countries of the world and is used for the production of pharmaceutical drugs.
Description of the plant
Chamomile is a fragile annual plant with a slender stem that grows up to 60 cm in height. It belongs to the Astrov family, has a pleasant, tart aroma, very persistent.
Important! The people call this plant differently. In particular, chamomile, common chamomile, blush, camila, mother plant, romaine and others.
The flowers of the plant are about one and a half centimeters in diameter, the petals are always white. Flowering lasts from May to September. The fruits begin to ripen in July.
Where does chamomile grow
Chamomile flower is quite widespread in Eurasia, Australia, South Africa, America. At the same time, you can meet different subspecies of these colors. In Central Africa, chamomile flowers were destroyed by tribes due to superstition that this flower is capable of attracting spirits.
Very often found on the sides of the road, along the edges of fields, in meadows, wild-growing pharmaceutical chamomile. This chamomile is not suitable for medicinal purposes. In this form, it is more a weed plant than a medicinal herb. This herb is cultivated and grown on specially designated plantations.
Reproduction methods
The plant produces seeds that ripen around mid-July. In the wild, they are sown by themselves. When creating a chamomile farm, in order to make a profit, you need to collect seeds and sow them in the fields yourself. Or plant seeds in pots, waiting for shoots to appear, and only then plant the shoots in the prepared beds.
Timing of collecting daisies on plantations
Chamomile grown on plantations for industrial production of medicinal raw materials, as a rule, bloom longer and more abundantly than wild ones. The plantations themselves are located in countries and regions where the growing season is quite long and lasts from mid-May to late August. During this time, the inflorescences are harvested 3-4 times, in some regions - 5 times.
The first collection of chamomile inflorescences on plantations is usually done in mid-May, then it is repeated every 3-4 weeks, depending on the abundance of new blossoming inflorescences.
The video below shows the harvesting of chamomile inflorescences using a special harvester:
Chamomiles from the Pyrethrum genus - Dalmatian, Persian - grown for pyrethrins are also harvested from late spring to late summer, but the number of harvests here does not happen more than 3, more often 2. This is due to lower fertility and a lower rate of recovery of the number of inflorescences on the bushes.
The photo below shows a Dalmatian chamomile plantation in Italy in mid-June:
Like chamomile, pyrethrum is harvested before a large number of seeds appear in the baskets. Only during this period a large number of necessary biologically active components are retained in the flowers.
Planting and leaving
The seedling method of reproduction of chamomile pharmacy has proven itself in the best way. It gives stronger shoots, a plant grown in this way has all the necessary beneficial properties.
The landing algorithm is as follows:
- you need to take a tray with not deep cells;
- fill the holes with light, easily air-permeable soil, which includes peat and sand, a ratio of 1: 1;
- place 2 - 3 seeds in each cell;
- sprinkle with a thin layer of soil;
- cover the tray with a thin, transparent film;
- exposed near sunlight, but not on a windowsill, direct ultraviolet light will harm the planting.
Important! Chamomile seeds are sown at the very beginning of spring, usually in March.
Further care is the timely watering of the sprouts when the soil dries out. The first seedlings will appear in about a couple of weeks. As soon as this happens, the film is removed, and the tray is placed on the windowsill. Now the sprouts are not afraid of direct sunlight. Do not forget about the protection against drafts.
If you cannot find a sunny spot in the house for exposing sprouts, a special fluorescent lamp should be installed above the tray. Daylight hours over the plants should be 14 hours.
Later, when the shoots grow up to 5 cm, it will be necessary to remove weak and uneven plants, leaving one flower in each cell. The main thing is not to rip out unnecessary shoots from the soil, this can harm the main flower. It is better to gently break them off above the ground surface.
Strong flowers need to be pinched a little so that it takes root and grows well. Do this over the third or fourth leaflet. After this procedure, the stem of the chamomile will become stronger and more stable.
Transplanting into open ground is simple, you just need to prepare the place by digging and weeding the soil in advance, as well as adding complex fertilizer for flowers. After planting in the beds, the plant is periodically watered, loosened the ground under it and mulch.
Chamomile application:
Why is chamomile so useful for medicine? The fact is that the flowers and the upper part of the chamomile contain essential oil, salicylic acid, glycosides, vitamins, carotene, glucose and other useful substances. Chamomile itself is a very good antiseptic, its decoctions are used as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antibacterial, diuretic and diaphoretic. Lotions from her decoction heal wounds. Chamomile extract is quite often found in cosmetology in the form of additives in hand creams and so on. After washing, rinse the head with a decoction of chamomile so that the hair acquires its original golden hue. Chamomile is also known in aromatherapy as a sedative.
Blue, pink and red flowers that look like daisies
There are several types of plants that are very similar in type to garden chamomile, but have colored petals:
- Feverfew or in another way Persian (Dalmatian) chamomile (Pyretrum parthenium). The plant is an unpretentious perennial, growing from fifty to one hundred centimeters in height. On strong long peduncles there are flowers with a diameter of six to twelve centimeters, with a bright yellow center surrounded by red petals. Currently, many hybrid forms of the plant have been bred with simple, semi-double and double inflorescences of pink, crimson, burgundy and yellow. Blossoming of maiden feverfew occurs in June and continues throughout the summer;
- Erigeron or small petals (Erigeron). This perennial plant reaches a height of sixty to eighty centimeters. Its flowers are very similar to chamomile and are characterized by a yellow core and narrow densely spaced petals of blue, lilac, lilac, purple, red and pink colors. The diameter of the flower basket reaches five centimeters.This plant begins to bloom in early summer and continues until mid-August.
Persian chamomile is very similar in type to garden chamomile, but has colored petals.
These plants can be harmoniously combined with garden daisies in a variety of garden compositions. In addition, they have similar conditions of detention and care rules.
Name
Scientific (Latin) name of the genus, Matricaria
("Uterine herb"), derived from Latin
matrix
("Uterus"), which is explained by the traditional use of the plant in the treatment of gynecological diseases. For the first time this name was used by the Swiss botanist and physician Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777).
The Roman writer and scientist Pliny the Elder in his multivolume work "Natural History" described this plant under the name Chamaemellon
, whose name comes from the Greek. χᾰμαι (
chamai
, "Low") and μῆλον (
mellon
, "Apple"), which is explained by the small height of the grass and the smell of flowers, reminiscent of the smell of apples.
The Russian name "chamomile" was borrowed from the Polish language and comes from Latin romana
("Roman"). The Poles were the first to call the plant this way, already in the middle of the 16th century, describing it as "the color of romance".
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| Pharmaceutical camomile (Matricaria recutita ). Botanical illustration from the book " | ||||||||||
Popular types
Numerous flower species are grown in horticultural conditions. Among the most popular are the variety "Silver Princess" up to 25-30 cm high, as well as maiden chamomile "Snowball" and chamomile meat-red or Persian.
Meadow chamomile
Leucanthemum vulgarе refers to tall perennials, forming single inflorescences-baskets with a diameter of 60-70 mm. White ligulate flowers are complemented by a yellow center. Garden forms are among the most popular varieties in culture. Sanssouci, Mae Queen and large-flowered form "Maxima Koenig".
Terry perennial
Shasta is the most beautiful and undemanding to care for. A huge number of hybrids are distinguished by very characteristic and large inflorescences, which have a pronounced aroma, which is completely unusual for chamomiles.
Alpine chamomile
Alpine aster, blue alpine or mountain aster are colored Compositae crops. The undersized variety is perfect for creating rock gardens, and also has a special decorative effect. The pink, white or purple color of the petals is complemented by a yellow and double center formed by a large number of small tubular petals.
Blue (pharmacy) chamomile
Matricaria chamomilla refers to annual herbaceous plants no more than half a meter in height, with a straight and bare stem part, dissected and feathery leaves. The small flowering part is like a daisy. It is widely cultivated for the purpose of further oil production.
Chrysanthemum
The largest daisy or chrysanthemum chamomile is a perennial rhizome plant that forms tall bushes. Such a popular bush form in our country differs in large single inflorescences and is the ancestor of many garden forms, including the unpretentious winter-hardy hybrid "Alaska" and densely doubled on a strong dense stem "Aglaya".
Other types of flower
Marsh lemongrass (L. рludosum) or marsh chrysanthemum is a short, but very bushy plant with a height of the aboveground part of no more than a quarter of a meter and sessile bright green leaves of a shovel type of the next arrangement. Inflorescences are represented by numerous baskets with short ligulate white flowers and a large yellow center formed by tubular flowers. No less popular chinese romance, which has long been known as a very popular anti-inflammatory agent.
