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Rubus argutus

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Botanical Name : Rubus argutus
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rubus
Species:R. argutus
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Rosales

Common Names: Highbush Blackberry, Sawtooth blackberry or Tall blackberry

Habitat :Rubus argutus is native to Eastern N. America – Massachusetts to Virginia. It grows on dry or moist thickets and woodland margins.

Description:
Rubus argutus is a deciduous Shrub growing to 2.5 m (8ft 2in). It is an erect, arching, or trailing shrub in the Rose family (Rosaceae). Stems are usually erect to arching in open areas and arching to trailing or decumbent in shaded areas. Primocanes (first year stems) are angled, 1-3 m long. Prickles are hooked or straight, up to 8 mm long. Leaves are palmately compound, typically with 3, sometimes 5 leaflets. Leaflets are elliptic, oblong-oblanceolate, or ovate. Terminal leaflet is 8-13 cm long and 3-8 cm wide. Leaflets are hairless on upper surface with soft, long hairs on lower surface. Leaflet margin is coarsely toothed. Prickles and leaves on floricanes (second year stems) are similar to primocanes but smaller. Flowers are arranged in short racemes on pedicels 1.5-5.0 cm long. Petals are white, 13-20 mm long. Fruit is black when mature, adhering to receptacle.

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The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Cultivation:
We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in many parts of the country. This species is cultivated for its edible fruit in N. America. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Easily grown in a good well-drained loamy soil in sun or semi-shade. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.
Propagation:
Seed – requires stratification and is best sown in early autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires one month stratification at about 3°c and is best sown as early as possible in the year. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Tip layering in July. Plant out in autumn. Division in early spring or just before leaf-fall in the autumn.

Edible Uses: …Fruit – raw or cooked. Variable in size and quality but generally with rather large and juicy drupelets. The pulpy fruit is up to 25mm long.
Medicinal Uses:

Antihaemorrhoidal; Antirheumatic; Astringent; Stimulant; Tonic.

The roots are antihaemorrhoidal, antirheumatic, astringent, stimulant and tonic. An infusion can be used in the treatment of venereal disease and as a wash in the treatment of piles. An infusion of the roots or leaves can be used in the treatment of diarrhoea and rheumatism.

Other Uses : Dye…..A purple to dull blue dye is obtained from the fruit.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_argutus
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Rubus+argutus

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Herbs & Plants

Orchis italica

 

Botanical Name : Orchis italica
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily:Orchidoideae
Tribe: Orchidae
Subtribe:Orchidinae
Alliance:Orchis
Genus: Orchis
Species:O. italica
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asparagales

Common Names: Naked man orchid or the Italian orchid

Habitat :Orchis italica is native to the Mediterranean. It grows on calcareous soils in grassland, garigue and open places in pine woodland.
Description:
Orchis italica is a  bulb .It grows up to 50cm in height and has a rosette of distinctive wavy-margined leaves at the base of the plant. The leaves are sometimes flecked with brown. There are a further 3 or 4 small leaves sheathing the stem. The flowers are carried in a dense inflorescence and are usually pale to dark pink. From time to time pure white specimens occur but they are rare.
It is not frost tender. It is in leaf 6-Oct It is in flower from Apr to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils.It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

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Edible Uses:
Root – cooked. It is a source of ‘salep‘, a fine white to yellowish-white powder that is obtained by drying the tuber and grinding it into a powder. Salep is a starch-like substance with a sweetish taste and a faint somewhat unpleasant smell. It is said to be very nutritious and is made into a drink or can be added to cereals and used in making bread etc. One ounce of salep is said to be enough to sustain a person for a day.
Medicinal Uses:

Antidiarrhoeal; Antiflatulent; Demulcent; Nutritive.

Salep (see above for more details) is very nutritive and demulcent. It has been used as a diet of special value for children and convalescents, being boiled with water, flavoured and prepared in the same way as arrowroot. Rich in mucilage, it forms a soothing and demulcent jelly that is used in the treatment of irritations of the gastro-intestinal canal. One part of salep to fifty parts of water is sufficient to make a jelly. The tuber, from which salep is prepared, should be harvested as the plant dies down after flowering and setting seed

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchis_italica
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Orchis+italica
http://www.first-nature.com/flowers/orchis-italica.php

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Agropyrum repens

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Botanical Name: Agropyrum repens
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Elymus
Species: E. repens
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Poales
Synonyms:  Twitch-grass. Scotch Quelch. Quick-grass. Dog-grass. Triticum repens (Linn.).

Commo  Namen : Couch grass

Other names : Common couch, Twitch, Quick grass, Quitch grass (also just quitch), Dog grass, Quackgrass, Scutch grass, and Witchgrass
Habitat:Agropyrum repens  is  native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic biome, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion
Description:
Agropyrum repens  or couch grass  is a very common perennial species of grass.  It has creeping rhizomes which enable it to grow rapidly across grassland. It has flat, hairy leaves with upright flower spikes. The stems (‘culms’) grow to 40–150 cm tall; the leaves are linear, 15–40 cm long and 3–10 mm broad at the base of the plant, with leaves higher on the stems 2–8.5 mm broad. The flower spike is 10–30 cm long, with spikelets 1–2 cm long, 5–7 mm broad and 3 mm thick with three to eight florets. The glumes are 7–12 mm long, usually without an awn or with only a short one…..CLICK  & SEE THE PICTURES

It flowers at the end of June through to August in the northern hemisphere.
Part Used in medicine :   The rhizome, or underground stem, collected in the spring and freed from leaves and roots.

Constituents:  Couch-grass rhizome contains about 7 to 8 per cent of Triticin (a carbohydrate resembling Inulin) and yielding levulose on hydrolysis. It appears to occur in the rhizome of other grasses, and possibly is widely diffused in the vegetable kingdom. Sugar, Inosite, Mucilage and acid malates are also constituents of the drug. Lactic acid and mannite may occur in an extract of the rhizome, but are understood to be fermentation products. Starch is not present and no definite active constituent has yet been discovered. The rhizome leaves about 4 1/2 per cent ash on incineration.

Medicinal  Uses:
Diuretic demulcent. Much used in cystitis and thetreatment of catarrhal diseases of the bladder. It palliates irritation of the urinary passages and gives relief in cases of gravel.

It is also recommended in gout and rheumatism. It is supposed to owe its diuretic effect to its sugar, and is best given in the form of an infusion, made from 1 OZ. to a pint of boiling water, which may be freely used taken in wineglassful doses. A decoction is also made by putting 2 to 4 oz. in a quart of water and reducing down to a pint by boiling. Of the liquid extract 1/2 to 2 teaspoonsful are given in water.

Couch-grass is official in the Indian and Colonial Addendum of the British Pharmacopoeia for use in the Australasian, Eastern and North American Colonies, where it is much employed.

The dried rhizomes of couch grass were broken up and used as incense in medieval northern Europe where other resin-based types of incense were unavailable. Elymus repens (Agropyron repens) rhizomes have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine against fever, internally as a tea, syrup, or cold maceration in water, or externally applied as a crude drug.

Other Uses:
The foliage is an important forage grass for many grazing mammals.  The seeds are eaten by several species of grassland birds, particularly buntings and finches. The caterpillars of some Lepidoptera use it as a foodplant, e.g. the Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola).

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elymus_repens
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/grasse34.html#cou

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