Creeping wheatgrass, medicinal properties. Creeping wheatgrass - herb and root: medicinal and beneficial properties and contraindications

Creeping wheatgrass(lat. Elytrigia repens) - perennial herbaceous plant, the most famous species of the genus Wheatgrass of the Poaceae family.

People call it Rzhanets, Zhitets, Dandur. This weed is widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in regions with temperate climate. Creeping wheatgrass comes from Europe, North Africa and Asia. It is growing everywhere in the CIS countries. Wheatgrass is one of the most harmful weeds for absolutely all crops. If you don’t start fighting it in time, it will displace all vegetation. For wheatgrass to grow, it prefers fairly moist, loose, fertile soils with a high nitrogen content. It can be found in fields, forests, gardens, meadows, along the banks of reservoirs, along roads, in weedy places. It brings headaches to summer residents, littering their gardens and personal plots. Creeping wheatgrass greatly depletes the soil, draws everything out of it nutrients, which significantly affects productivity.

Creeping wheatgrass got its name due to its numerous roots that spread in different directions, capturing new areas of the earth. The rhizome can reach several meters in length, it is located in top layer land. The roots go deep into the soil up to 12 cm, but it all depends on the density of the soil. The higher the soil density, the closer to the surface the roots are. On the rhizome there are buds that do not have a dormant period. They germinate throughout the growing season, until frost. During wet periods the plant grows before our eyes.

Creeping wheatgrass - description

The stem is straight, smooth, grows up to 60-120 cm. The leaves are elongated, lanceolate, 5-10 mm wide. Veins are clearly visible on the surface of the leaf. The stem forms bare spikelets with several flowers; the spikelets reach a length of 10-15 cm. This weed blooms in June-August. The seeds ripen very quickly, and the first fruits appear already in early July. The fruit is an elongated, spindle-shaped, membranous caryopsis. The seeds are gray-green with a yellowish tint. One seed is 4-5 mm long and about 1 mm thick. The seeds are covered with shallow wrinkles over the entire surface. Creeping wheatgrass is very prolific; one plant can produce up to 19 thousand seeds. The viability of seeds lasts up to five years. The first shoots of creeping wheatgrass appear with the arrival of warmth, in March-April. Seedlings begin to germinate at a temperature of +2…+4 °C. The most favorable temperature for rapid development plants is +20 °C.

The fight against creeping wheatgrass is ongoing, since the plant is very harmful. For example, if 10 creeping wheatgrass plants appear in winter wheat crops on an area of ​​1 m², the yield drops by 5%. To destroy wheatgrass, it is necessary to carry out soil cultivation techniques aimed at weakening the vital activity of rhizomes - weeding, digging, mowing. Most effective method wrestling is a method of strangulation. Wheatgrass does not tolerate strong shading, so fast growing crops capable of suppressing it.

IN last years A variety of anti-cereal herbicides are used to control this weed. Preparations containing clethodim lead to the death of 90% of creeping wheatgrass plants. To control wheatgrass, you need to treat the soil before sowing grain crops; most often, “Glyphosphate” and “Monitor” are used. A drug called Roundup showed excellent results in the war against wheatgrass. This herbicide, getting on the surface of the leaves and stems, spreads throughout the entire plant within 5 hours and penetrates the root. The process of amino acid synthesis slows down, which leads to the death of the plant.

Creeping wheatgrass medicinal properties

Despite the harmfulness of this weed, creeping wheatgrass can benefit humans. The medicinal properties of creeping wheatgrass have long been confirmed by a number of medical studies. Most Valuable medicinal raw materials considered a rhizome. Rhizomes must be harvested in September. The root must be separated from the shoots, thoroughly washed under running water to remove any contaminants and dried. The rhizome can be dried either in air or in an electric dryer. During the drying process, the workpieces need to be turned over from time to time. The shelf life of such raw materials is 2 years; it must be stored in glass containers. After this time, the root loses its healing properties.

Preparations based on wheatgrass have a diuretic, laxative and diaphoretic effect. They are taken for diseases of the lungs, liver, stomach, inflammation of the intestines, anemia, rickets.

Wheatgrass can cleanse the blood and remove toxins. Blood purification occurs along with the removal of fluid from the body. The result of cleansing will be noticeable on clean skin.

Wheatgrass also has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, tonic, restorative and nourishing effects. It is used for acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, salt metabolism disorders, and osteochondrosis. Wheatgrass contains a large number of sugar, vitamins and useful substances, due to which it helps improve appetite and sleep.

This weed is an excellent feed for all types of livestock. It is eaten with pleasure on pastures; the nutrients of wheatgrass affect weight gain in livestock. Creeping wheatgrass produces the most high-calorie hay. For horses, the rhizome of this plant is considered a real delicacy. Thanks to the beneficial substances that wheatgrass contains, endurance increases, and the coat becomes shiny and smooth.

Creeping wheatgrass photo

Root system creeping wheatgrass - Elytrigia repens Creeping wheatgrass - Elytrigia repens

There are about 30 species of wheatgrass, which are distributed in the extratropical regions of both hemispheres. Sometimes the genus wheatgrass is included in the wheatgrass genus. Most common in Russia creeping wheatgrass, found in plantings and crops of all crops. Cut rhizomes easily take root and produce new growth. If the contamination is severe, it choke out the crops.

The old Latin name of this plant translated means creeping fire of the fields. Indeed, this plant is very unpleasant for the farmer. But livestock breeders are delighted with it; it is this plant that produces the main hay harvest. In the southern regions, floodplain meadows with wheat grass are considered the most valuable hayfields, producing up to 5-6 tons of hay per hectare.

And for the field grower and gardener, creeping wheatgrass turns into a constant nightmare. Wheatgrass rhizomes do not have a dormant period and begin to grow at the slightest damage. At the same time, in good conditions, on loose, fertile soils, wheatgrass reproduces only by rhizomes, without bothering with flowering. Seeds are formed when the soil is compacted and dried out, in dry years, and when the development of rhizomes is difficult. However, in this case too most of seeds do not germinate and remain underdeveloped. Wheatgrass also usually reproduces only vegetatively in a bed.

The rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass in the soil can reach several hundred kilometers per hectare in length, then they have about 250 million buds, each of which is capable of sprouting and forming an independent plant. The bulk of the rhizomes on arable lands lie at a depth of 10-12 cm. On dense soils - at a depth of 3-5 cm. In undisturbed rhizomes on virgin lands, from 2 to 54% of the buds sprout. The less the rhizome lies, the more actively it germinates. The approach of rhizomes to the surface or their damage causes rapid growth. Young wheatgrass rhizomes are white, old ones are yellowish-brown.

On young rhizomes, rudimentary leaves are clearly visible, extending from the nodes and completely covering the rhizome. The rhizomes branch, their ends come to the surface and form new bushes. In the spring, literally from under the snow, they immediately begin to grow. At the same time, the growth force of the rhizomes is so great that they freely penetrate old boards 2-3 cm thick and whole potato tubers. If removed or damaged apical bud shoot, the next bud begins to grow. Any segment of rhizome that has at least one bud can grow.

With strong development, wheatgrass displaces not only cultivated plants, but also other weeds. Weeding does not give anything when fighting wheatgrass, the only remedy- sampling of rhizomes during digging. Left to its own devices, the wheatgrass thicket is quite durable - it exists for 6-7 years, then gradually thins out and dies.

The word wheatgrass comes from a very ancient Proto-Slavic root - pyro - bread, rye and, indeed, under certain conditions it is able to justify this name. Wheatgrass rhizome contains 5-6% protein and 30-40% sugars in dry form. Wheatgrass also contains triticin instead of starch - White powder tasteless and odorless, which when heated in an aqueous solution with hydrochloric acid turns into fruit sugar - fructose. Wheatgrass contains a little essential oil and a lot of mucus - up to 10%.

IN folk medicine Wheatgrass is used for coughs, and also as a diuretic, it removes uric acid from the body and is recommended for gout and rheumatism. Abroad, in some countries, wheatgrass is also included in the arsenal of official herbal medicine. It is usually harvested during spring plowing or digging up the site. And before the revolution, wheatgrass was specially harvested for pharmaceutical needs. In the Poltava province alone, over 200 pounds of root were collected annually. In some places in Russia they brewed beer from it, and a similar drink existed in Germany. Wheatgrass was also used as a substitute for bread, and in times of famine it was of great importance.

It is often eaten by dogs and cats, especially those who live in an apartment and do not receive enough vitamins. Such animals, having reached the wheatgrass thickets, literally graze in them. This is a completely normal phenomenon, but sick animals especially diligently look for wheatgrass and it is not surprising, because in folk medicine it is used in preparations with a somewhat vague name - blood purifying. Now this is called regulating metabolism.

Creeping wheatgrass (Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski)

Description of appearance:
Flowers: Spike 7-15 cm long, straight, with densely spaced spikelets. Spikelets glabrous, 10-15 mm long, 4-7-flowered; The glumes are lanceolate, 7-10 mm long, with an apex more than 0.5 mm long or an awn up to 6 mm. The lower flower scales are 7-12 mm long, pointed, with an apex of at least 0.3 mm or an awn up to 8 mm long.
Leaves: Leaf blades 5-10 mm wide, flat, with thin veins; vaginas are bare or lower leaves hairy; the tongue is very short.
Height: 50-120 cm.
Root: With a very long, up to 0.5 m or more, branched, cord-like rhizome.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Creeping wheatgrass grows on coastal sands, meadows, clearings, in the steppes, along roadsides, in fields and vegetable gardens, in weedy places. A nasty and difficult to eradicate weed.
Prevalence: Almost cosmopolitan, widespread in the northern hemisphere; cultivated and introduced into many extratropical countries in both hemispheres. Common plant throughout Russia.
Addition: It is well eaten by all types of livestock, especially on pasture at the beginning of the growing season, before heading. Polymorphic plant; it can be green and bluish (var. glauca (Doell) Tzvel.), naked and more or less hairy, with a short-haired spine (var. caesia (J. et C. Presl.) Prokud.).

Wheatgrass (Elytrigia lolioides (Kar. et Kir.) Nevski)

Description of appearance:
Flowers: Spike straight, 7-14 cm long. Spikelets 1-1.5(1.7) cm long, (3) 5-8-flowered, appressed or slightly deviated from the axis of the spikelet, bluish-green; glumes 4-6 mm long, shorter than the lower flower, with 3-5 veins. The lower lemma is 8-8.5 mm long, lanceolate, obtuse, with five veins, the middle of which is continued into a short thick pointed point; the upper flower scales are almost equal to the lower ones, and the keels are ciliated.
Leaves: Leaf blades are bluish-green, 2-4 (5-6) mm wide, usually rolled along, with prominent veins on top, densely covered with hairs.
Height: 30-75 cm.
Root: Long rhizomatous plant.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blooms in June-July, bears fruit in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Wheatgrass grows in the steppes, on outcrops of chalk and limestone, along sands, in very dry meadows, near roads; mainly in the chernozem zone, rarely to the north.
Prevalence: Distributed throughout Russia in the southern half of the European part and in the south of Siberia, reaching the regions of Ukraine in the west. Occasionally found in the black earth regions of Central Russia.

Intermediate wheatgrass (Elytrigia intermedia (Host) Nevski)

Description of appearance:
Flowers: Spike 10-25 cm long. Spikelets 8-16(19) mm long, 3-6-flowered; glumes 5-8(10) mm long, shorter than the lower flower, glabrous. The lower flower scales are 8-10(12) mm long, glabrous, obtuse.
Leaves: Leaf blades are 3-7(10) mm wide, like the sheaths, glabrous or somewhat hairy.
Height: 40-100 cm.
Root: With horizontal rhizome.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blooms in June, bears fruit in July.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Intermediate wheatgrass grows in the steppes, on outcrops of chalk and limestone, dry glades, and among bushes.
Prevalence: Distributed in Central Europe, Mediterranean, Caucasus, Asia Minor and Central Asia, Iran. In Russia it is found mainly in the southern half of the European part; north of the chernozem strip it is rare, confined to the valleys of large rivers.
Addition: A good forage plant, especially before flowering.

Wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata (Host) Nevski)

Description of appearance:
Flowers: Spike 10-30 cm long, sharply rough along the ribs, with elongated, up to 3-4 cm, lower axis segments. The spikelets are compressed before flowering, later fan-shaped, deflected from the axis, 10-23 mm long, 5-10-flowered. The lower lemma is 9-12 mm long, with five veins, of which the middle one is thickened.
Leaves: Leaf blades are 4-5 mm wide, rolled lengthwise, gray or bluish-green, hard, with protruding veins, rough on top and along the edges, like the sheaths, glabrous.
Height: 40-100(150) cm
Stem: Stems are thick.
Flowering and fruiting time: Blooms in June-July, bears fruit in July-August.
Lifespan: Perennial.
Habitat: Elongated wheatgrass grows in saline meadows, salt marshes, chalk, limestone, and along roadsides.
Prevalence: Distributed in Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. In Russia - mainly in the southern half of the European part; to the north it occasionally penetrates through disturbed areas and along communication routes.
Addition: Turf plant. Considered good forage plant, readily eaten by livestock when young; produces coarse but nutritious hay.

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Creeping wheatgrass (Elytrígia repens) is herbaceous perennial, and is included in the kingdom of Plants and the family of Cereals. This is the most famous and numerous species, which is quite widespread in our country.

What does creeping wheatgrass look like and where does it grow?

The plant belongs to the genus Wheatgrass, class Monocots and department Flowering. Botanical description perennial assumes a long and creeping, horizontally located and cord-like root, which lies at a depth of no more than 5-15 cm. The average height of the above-ground, stem part can vary between 40-150 cm. The foliage is bare and flat, linear in type. The inflorescence looks like small sizes spikelet

The plant is naturalized worldwide, and among gardeners and gardeners it is considered a malicious and very common weed, the fight against which is represented by frequent digging of the soil with manual removal of roots and subsequent mulching. Wheatgrass grows not only in flat areas, but also in the mountains, and is also often found in flooded or floodplain meadows, predominating mainly in grass.

Medicinal properties and composition of wheatgrass

The medicinal use of green vegetative mass is not so high value, as the healing characteristics of the rhizome, which contains a fairly large amount of the following components:

  • carbohydrates, including starch and sugars in the form of fructose and levulose;
  • mucous-type substances;
  • vitamins belonging to group “B”;
  • carotenoids;
  • ascorbic acid;
  • acids of organic origin;
  • natural essential oils.

Rhizomes are capable of accumulating minerals in the form of macroelements and microelements, including organic derivatives of silicic acid. Beneficial properties are also determined by complex oily compounds, which have pronounced bactericidal and softening effects, which contributes to the correct and easy absorption of vitamin and mineral complexes. Special meaning also have pectins, which help remove toxins and radioactive substances from the body, as well as saponins, which accelerate metabolic processes and have expectorant, diuretic and choleretic effects.

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Useful properties of creeping wheatgrass (video)

Medicinal properties of wheatgrass in folk medicine:

A weedy and very common plant in our country, it has proven itself very well in the treatment of many diseases. In therapy and prevention, not only the roots, but also the above-ground parts of wheatgrass are used.

Benefits and recipes using wheatgrass rhizome

The collection of plant rhizomes should be carried out in the last ten days of summer or at the very beginning autumn period. Before drying, the rhizome is thoroughly cleaned of the stem part and leaves, and then washed well in cold running water and dried. Drying should be done in an oven or special drying chambers at temperature conditions at a level of 55-60 o C. The dried plant material must be periodically stirred and turned over. The finished roots do not bend, but break with a bang. The standard shelf life of herbal medicinal raw materials does not exceed three years.

For medicinal purposes, decoctions are most often used, which are prepared in a ratio of 1:10 to maintain the diuretic and laxative effect. You need to consume the prepared decoction two tablespoons three times a day, diluting a couple of teaspoons of plant extract in a glass warm water. For the treatment of arthritis, gout, osteochondrosis and neuralgia, an infusion is prepared using a couple of tablespoons of rhizome and half a liter of boiling water. The decoction is infused under the lid, after which it is filtered and consumed three times a day. Decoctions have proven themselves very well in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Enemas with decoctions can reduce hemorrhoids.

Treatment of ailments with wheatgrass leaves

The juice obtained from fresh leaves also has positive reviews. This medicine in the amount of a glass three times a day is used in the treatment of cholelithiasis and urolithiasis. The standard course of treatment is two or three weeks, after which you must take a break.

To properly prepare wheatgrass juice, you need to collect and thoroughly grind a kilogram of grass, then pour it with two liters of water and mix well. After about an hour and a half, the juice should be strained and squeezed well. The medicinal juice prepared in this way is able to retain all its beneficial features for several days when stored in normal household refrigerator.Storage duration can be significantly increased If you add one glass of high-quality vodka to a liter of such juice.

Wheatgrass in cosmetology

Medicines made from wheatgrass very quickly and effectively cure furunculosis, and also help well in the presence of juvenile acne and are effective in the treatment of many other skin diseases. The plant is included in the preparations for making compresses, which are used for dry and delicate skin with reduced resistance and pyoderma. In mixtures with stinging nettle, the remedy is used for premature graying and excessive sweating of the feet.

Methods for controlling wheatgrass as a weed

Removing weeds represented by wheatgrass is quite difficult. Measures aimed at controlling weeds will require a lot of time and effort. For this purpose, not only folk remedies and manual labor are widely used, but also modern chemical drugs:

  • after autumn harvest The crop is harvested through two-stage plowing with disking to a depth of 8-12 cm and plowing. Re-treatment is required after about a couple of weeks;
  • in small areas, manual sampling of weed roots is carried out using a fork or bayonet shovel;
  • To mechanical methods control also includes spring harrowing and pruning shoots, chopping rhizomes using a cultivator, as well as darkening with mulching.

With the help of herbicides, it is possible to remove more than seventy percent of weeds from a personal or garden plot. Most often, a low-toxic and universal drug is used for this purpose. "Roundup", continuous action herbicide "Hurricane Forte", as well as pesticides "Agrokiller" "Glyphos" And "Tornado".Important to remember, that it is not recommended to use herbicides on the same area more often three times within one year.









Harm of wheatgrass and some contraindications

Almost everything medications made from wheatgrass, differ in certain contraindications, presented by:

  • exacerbation and stage of unstable remission of gastric ulcer;
  • exacerbation and stage of unstable remission of duodenal ulcer;
  • acute pancreatitis with impaired enzyme production;
  • predisposition to diarrhea of ​​unspecified origin;
  • decreased blood pressure;
  • period of pregnancy and lactation;
  • availability large stones in the gallbladder;
  • the presence of large stones in the kidneys or bladder;
  • allergic reactions and individual intolerance.

Besides everything else, it is extremely it is important to control the process of collecting plant materials, as well as all stages of preparing medicines based on wheatgrass. The dosage is selected strictly individually, depending on the severity of the disease and the presence of concomitant pathologies.

How to deal with wheatgrass (video)

Weeds such as creeping wheatgrass have very pronounced diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant and laxative properties. Removing weed from personal plot manually, gardeners have great opportunity not only clean the area, but also obtain an effective medicine.

Creeping wheatgrass(Agropyrum repens) is one of the most common weeds and headache many gardeners: not only does it deplete the soil, it is also almost impossible to get rid of it.

Ruthlessly removing wheatgrass from the site, many gardeners do not realize that kilograms of torn grass can fundamentally improve their health.

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After all, it’s not for nothing that cats and dogs love to chew these long, hard leaves - animals intuitively feel their natural power, which it’s simply a sin not for people to use to maintain and restore their health.

Creeping wheatgrass

Wheatgrass reproduces by seeds and division of roots. This is a very tenacious plant; the substances it contains allow seeds to germinate at just 2 degrees Celsius, while young shoots are not afraid of either drought or frost. For this reason, wheatgrass is popularly called “zhitets”, “ponyry”, “worm-grass”.

In difficult lean years, our ancestors used the tenacious weed for food purposes. Famous herbalist, 90-year-old Elena Zaitseva says: "When in early spring people plowed their gardens, we collected weed roots throughout the village, mostly wheatgrass.

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We had 30 bags of roots in our attic. We wash them, dry them, and grind them into flour. Mom baked bread from this flour - it is tastier and more nutritious than wheat. There was a terrible famine during the war, but we survived thanks to the roots of the weeds.

Mom said that God gives a person the grass that he needs. If you have a plot of land, look at what “weed” grass grows the most - this will be your medicine.”

Wheatgrass contains a long list of valuable substances: carotene, ascorbic acid, malic acid, proteins, carbohydrates, essential oil and, what is very valuable, silicon, which helps retain calcium in the body.

Indications for the use of creeping wheatgrass

Properties of wheatgrass make it a valuable medicine for patients with various joint, skin, and colds.

They also make it possible to use zhitets for the prevention of one of the most common diseases of our century - osteoporosis (its symptoms appear in 80% of women over the age of 50).

What cures wheatgrass

  1. Skin diseases
    The main medicinal property of wheatgrass is its ability to “cleanse” the blood and the body as a whole of toxins, waste and other “pollutants”. The use of decoctions and tinctures of the plant allows you to get rid of skin diseases from the inside.
  2. Upper respiratory tract diseases
    The anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties of wheatgrass allow it to be used to treat colds, bronchitis, tracheitis, and pneumonia.
  3. Liver diseases
    Wheatgrass perfectly cleanses the blood, so it is useful for hepatitis, diseases of the biliary tract and alleviates the condition of the patient with cirrhosis.
  4. Digestive tract diseases
    For gastritis, colitis, enteritis and stomach ulcers, wheatgrass infusion envelops the damaged mucosa, reduces inflammation and promotes faster tissue regeneration.
  5. Diseases of the cardiovascular system
    For angina pectoris, arrhythmia and hypertension, the use of wheatgrass helps reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood and strengthen the walls of blood vessels.
  6. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system
    For rheumatism, gout and arthritis, regular use of wheatgrass decoctions and tinctures helps reduce inflammation in the joints and facilitates the patient's movement.
  7. Anemia, vitamin deficiency, chronic fatigue
    Stress, insomnia, increased irritability and causeless anxiety are all indications for the use of wheatgrass. The high content of vitamins, minerals and silicon makes wheatgrass an indispensable remedy for the treatment of nervous diseases.

Use in folk medicine

For medicinal purposes rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass harvested in spring or autumn. Peel off small roots, wash thoroughly and air dry, then chop. But, unlike other roots, wheatgrass can be collected and consumed all summer.

Before drying, thoroughly clean the rhizomes and rinse in cold water. It is recommended to dry the raw materials at 60 degrees in an oven or special dryers, stirring and turning occasionally. Ready rhizomes should break with a bang without being deformed. Shelf life - no more than 3 years.

Medicines


Contraindications