Tag: Armenia

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Herbs & Plants (Spices)

Astragalus hamosus

Botanical Name: Astragalus hamosus
Family : Fabaceae
Subfamily : Faboideae
Tribe : Galegeae
United : Plantae
Division : magnoliophyta
Class : magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosidae
Order : Fabales

Common Name : European milkvetch
Habitat : Astragalus hamosus is native to Europe – Mediterranean to Armenia, Ukraine and the Caucasus. It grows on the dry grassland. Semidesert areas in foothills and the low montane belt, on clay, loess, sand and rock debris.

Description:
Astragalus hamosus is an annual herbiculas plant growing to 0.6 m (2ft) by 0.5 m (1ft 8in). The lives in dry fields and meadows terofíticos . It branches from the base but branches are applied to the soil. The leaves have many leaflets , but less and are smaller than in Astragalus boeticus .
It is in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen from Jul to September.

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The flowers are white, are grouped at the end of a stalk . The fruits perfectly characterize this species as they are strongly curved, they are similar to some fishhooks. It blooms in the spring and the seeds ripen from Jul to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, lepidIt is in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen from Jul to September. optera.It can fix Nitrogen.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry soil.
Cultivation:
Requires a dry well-drained soil in a sunny position. Grows well in Cornwall. Plants are intolerant of root disturbance and are best sown in situ. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby. When removing plant remains at the end of the growing season, it is best to only remove the aerial parts of the plant, leaving the roots in the ground to decay and release their nitrogen. Many members of this genus can be difficult to grow, this may be due partly to a lack of their specific bacterial associations in the soil.

Propagation:
Seed – sow late winter in a greenhouse. Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in warm water. If any seed does not swell up in this time then carefully prick it with a needle making sure that you do not damage the embryo, and re-soak for a further 24 hours. Germination usually takes place within 3 – 6 weeks at 13°c. As soon as it is large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.
Edible Uses: Young seedpods – cooked. They quickly become tough and fibrous. The young seedpods are also used in salads. They have only a mediocre taste, but look very much like certain worms and so are used mainly for their novelty value.
Medicinal Uses:
The plant is demulcent, emollient, galactogogue and laxative. It is useful in treating irritation of the mucous membranes, nervous affections and catarrh.

Known Hazards: Many members of this genus contain toxic glycosides. All species with edible seedpods can be distinguished by their fleshy round or oval seedpod that looks somewhat like a greengage. A number of species can also accumulate toxic levels of selenium when grown in soils that are relatively rich in that element.
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:
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Astragalus+hamosus
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astragalus_hamosus

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Amelanchier interior

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Botanical Name : Amelanchier interior
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Amelanchier
Species:A. interior
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Rosales

Common Name : Pacific serviceberry

Habitat : Amelanchier interior is native to Central N. America – Wisconsin to S. Minnesota and south to S. Dakota. It grows on the hillsides and banks of streams.
Description:
Amelanchier interior is a perennial deciduous Tree growing to 9 m (29ft 6in).It’s leaves are simple, alternate and regularly toothed and are often reddish when young. They may be either glabrous or somewhat pubescent at maturity. The top of the ovary is clearly tomentose at flowering time. The plants are often multiply-stemmed from the base, with height less than about 10 meters maximum, therefore appearing as a small tree or a tall shrub. The bark is smooth and gray, and the trunks are less than 10 cm in diameter. The flowers are showy with bright white petals opening in (April) May or early June and producing numerous red or purple fleshy fruits.

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It is not frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.The plant is self-fertile.
Edible Uses :
Edible Parts: Fruit.
Edible Uses:

Fruit – raw or cooked. A sweet taste and a juicy texture, even before the fruit is fully ripe. The fruit is produced in small clusters and is up to 8mm in diameter. The fruit is rich in iron and copper. This species has been seen fruiting well at Kew where the fruit ripened about 3 weeks later than most of the other species

Medicinal Uses: Not yet known.

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:
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Amelanchier+interior
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/shrubs/ameint01.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_interior

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Stachys byzantina

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Botanical Name : Stachys byzantina
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Stachys
Species: S. byzantina
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales

Synonym : Stachys lanata or Stachys olympica.

Common Name :Lamb’s Ear

Habitat :Stachys byzantina is  native to Turkey, Armenia, and Iran. It is cultivated over much of the temperate world as an ornamental plant, and is naturalised in some locations as an escape from gardens.

Description:
Stachys byzantina is a perennial herbs usually densely covered with gray or silver-white, silky-lanate hairs. They are named lambs ears because of the curved shape and white, soft, fur like hair coating. Flowering stems are erect, often branched, and tend to be 4-angled, growing 40–80 cm tall. The leaves are thick and somewhat wrinkled, densely covered on both sides with gray-silver colored, silky-lanate hairs, the under sides more silver-white in color than the top surfaces. The leaves arranged oppositely on the stems and 5 to 10 cm long. Leaf petioles semiamplexicaul (the bases wrapping half way around the stem) with the basal leafs having blades oblong-elliptic in shape, measuring 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide (though variation exists in cultivated forms), The leaf margins are crenulate but covered with dense hairs, the leaf apexes attenuate, gradually narrowing to a rounded point. The flowering spikes are 10–22 cm long, producing verticillasters that each have many flowers and are crowded together over most of the length on the spike-like stem. The leaves produced on the flowering stems are greatly reduced in size and subsessile, the lower ones slightly longer than the interscholastic and the upper ones shorter than the verticillasters. Leaf bracteoles linear to linear-lanceolate in shape and 6 mm long. The flowers have no pedicels (sessile) and the calyx is tubular-campanulate in shape, being slightly curved and 1.2 cm long. The calyx is glabrous except for the inside surface of the teeth, having 10-veins with the accessory veins inconspicuous. The 2–3 mm long calyx teeth are ovate-triangular in shape and are subequal or the posterior teeth larger, with rigid apices. Corollas with some darker purple tinted veins inside, 1.2 cm long with silky-lanate hairs but bases glabrous. The corolla tubes are about 6 mm long with the upper lip ovate in shape with entire margins; the lower lips are subpatent with the middle lobe broadly ovate in shape, lateral lobes oblong. The stamen filaments are densely villous from the base to the middle. Styles much exserted past the corolla. Immature nutlets without hairs, brown in color and oblong in shape.

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Lamb’s Ear flowers in late spring and early summer, plants produce tall spike-like stems with a few reduced leaves. The flowers are small and either white or pink. The plants tend to be evergreen but can “die” back during cold winters and regenerate new growth from the crowns. In warmer climates they may grow year-round, but suffer where it’s hot and humid. They are easy to grow, preferring partial shade to full sunlight and well-drained soils not rich in nitrogen.

Cultivated over much of the temperate parts of the world and naturalized in some locations as an escapee from gardens.

Lamb’s Ear is a commonly grown plant for children’s gardens or used as an edging plant, in Brazil is also used as a edible herb, called Lambari, as they are easy to grow and the thick felt like leaves are fun to touch. It has sometimes been used as a medicinal plant. A number of cultivars exist including white flowering forms, plants with shorter habit and plants that do not bloom as much.

*Big Ears‘ – leaves very large, up to 25 cm long.
*Cotton Ball’ – a sterile cultivar that does not produce flowering stems. Asexually propagated.
*Primrose Heron’ – leaves yellow in spring; flowers pink
*Sheila Macqueen’ – sterile; low-growing; leaves large.
*Silky Fleece’ – grows 25 cm tall with lilac-plum flowers, produce smaller white-woolly foliage. Seed propagated.
*Silver Carpet’ – sterile; leaves grey. Asexually propagated.
*Striped Phantom’ – leaves variegated.

Medicinal Uses:
Stachys byzantina makes a natural bandage and dressing to staunch bleeding.

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

Resources:
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_LMN.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stachys_byzantina
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/groundcover/stachys_byzantina.html

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