Wolf's bark is a plant belonging to the Thymelaeáceae family. The name is folk, and according to the official classification, it is referred to as a wolfberry, or an ordinary wolf. On the territory of Russia there are 14 of its species.
Description
This is a shrub, barely reaching a height of 1 m, with flexible thin branches. Its bark has a grayish-brown hue and is dotted with brown spots. The leaves are rounded-oblong on shortened petioles. The flowers are tubular, four-petalled, with eight stamens, resembling lilacs. They are without pedicels, located directly on the stem of the plant. wolf's bast. The photo shows this perfectly.
Distinctive feature
During flowering (April - early May), it is impossible to confuse this plant with any other. Its leafless branches are literally strewn with lilac-pink flowers, collected in heaps. If you sniff, you can smell the aroma of vanilla emanating from them. Just don’t get carried away with this smell, otherwise you can’t avoid headaches and malaise.
Fruit
The fruits of this plant are berries that ripen in August. They are small in size, bright scarlet in color, oval, juicy. As well as flowers, they are located on the branches in a few bunches. At this time, the branches are already with leaves, however, only at the tops.
Why did such an unusual name take root
The names of shrubs, as well as other plants, are not born from scratch. Wolfberry has a very strong bark. Not even the bark, but the bast layer located under it, namely the bast. Thanks to him, it is easy to break a branch of this shrub, but it is difficult to tear it off, it will take considerable strength. The adjective in the name has taken root because the wolf has always been associated with evil, deceit. And this plant is just that.
The wolf's bark is poisonous, and all of its parts. The aroma of flowers is intoxicating, poisonous. A small drop of juice that gets on the skin will cause a burning sensation, and irritation on the mucous membrane. If you unknowingly chew on a branch, your lips will swell, your throat will be very ticklish, your eyes will water, your head will ache, your temperature will rise, and vomiting and convulsions may begin.
Spreading
Scientists have not come to a consensus on how the wolf's bark spreads. One of the versions: the birds peck at the berries, digest them without any problems, and spread the seeds with excrement.
Why there are no thickets
Wolf's bast in Russia grows in the Caucasus, Siberia and the forest-steppe zone of the European part of the country. However, this plant is quite rare. Botanists believe that thickets do not form because plants are able to poison each other, as they contain poisonous substances.
Application
Wolf's bast contains glycosides and flavonoids, which, when ingested, contribute to blood incoagulability, upset digestive system, and form blisters and burns on the skin. However, in folk medicine these qualities are used to treat neuralgia, paralysis, gout, rheumatism, that is, only as an external remedy. Tinctures are prepared from fresh bark collected during the flowering period.
Finally
If you come across a wolf's bark, it is much safer to admire it from afar. It is a source of food for birds in autumn and an ornament spring forest. In addition, the plant is taken under protection as rare.
Wolf fruits are called different plants: privet, wolf's bast, dereza and even goji. What does it look like wolfberry, which can be dangerous to humans? What forest fruits should be extremely careful?
In the photo there is a wolfberry (dereza)
What kind of berry is called wolfberry?
The commercial name for goji berries is wolfberry. Translated from English - wolfberry. However, Chinese fruits for weight loss have nothing to do with a plant that is found in the forests of the North and central Russia, in Ukraine, Moldova and the Caucasus. Enterprising sellers often give out the fruits of privet, common nightshade, wolf's bast for expensive imported goji.
Wolfberry, the photo of which reflects its external features, is a fruit with a red or black glossy color. It forms on a shrub with narrow oblong leaves, develops from a flower, pours during the summer and matures by autumn. At this time, the branches are studded with large bright beads and look especially impressive. Thanks to given property privet, for example, is planted in gardens for ornamental purposes.
In spring, a bush up to 5 meters blooms with beautiful tassels, like lilacs. And in the fall, shiny purple fruits appear in place of the inflorescences.
On common nightshade, wolf's bast, black fruits with a glossy sheen are formed. They are very dangerous, contain deadly poison for humans and animals. They should not be used for food or medical purposes.
Wolfberry: harm and benefits of fruits
Wolfberry, common in our forests, is an extremely poisonous plant. Birds and animals avoid it. The name is associated with her ability to bring evil, and not with the preferences of predators. The poison of common nightshade, wolf's bast, privet, bearing the name of wolfberry, is strong and fast-acting.
However, black or bright red fruits can be beneficial to humans.
1. In China, they make a special tincture used for eye diseases.
2. There are medical preparations where the poison of berries is present in scanty doses and, in combination with other components, plays a positive role in the improvement of a person.
3. Experienced gardeners use them to prepare poisonous compounds in the fight against pests in the beds.
4. Chinese goji berries and wolfberry can be consumed without fear for your health in order to lose weight and increase the stability of the immune system.
Wolf berries are the collective name for inedible and poisonous fruits growing in the forest. You have to be careful with them. When walking through the forest, you need to bypass the bushes.
Many people like to spend the weekend in nature, walking in the forest, picking mushrooms, berries and herbs. However, if we are often warned about mushrooms and informed about dangerous species, then with berries everything is more difficult. At first glance, beautiful bright fruits seem harmless, and it is very difficult to understand which ones are poisonous. For example, in our forests, a common wolfberry, which can cause not only food poisoning, but also lead to death. Therefore, it would be useful to learn more about this forest plant, its positive and negative qualities.
What is a wolfberry - why is it called that
The popular name "wolf berry" combines a large number of berry bushes and herbaceous plants with black, white, red fruits, orange color. These plants got their name not because they are food for wolves. Just before it was believed that the wolf personifies evil, deceit, meanness, death, and the wolfberry looks harmless, but in fact it has a harmful toxic effect.
Description of poisonous shrubs and plants - fruit color, photo
Numerous useful fruits ripen throughout the summer. wild berries: strawberries, currants, blueberries, raspberries, lingonberries, bird cherry. Just do not forget that poisonous berries grow next to them, causing acute poisoning. Even if there are not so many of them, everyone needs to know what they look like, especially if you take children into nature. The list of poisonous fruits is:
- belladonna;
- May lily of the valley;
- Boxthorn;
- bittersweet nightshade;
- honeysuckle;
- daphne;
- girlish grapes;
- raven eye;
- calla;
- buckthorn is fragile;
- snowberry.
Wolf's bast or wolfberry - what it looks like
Daphne (wolfberry) - decorative evergreen shrub, the maximum height of which reaches 150 centimeters. The stems of the plant are straight, covered with gray bark, slightly branched. The leaves are oblong, alternate, held on short petioles, have a smooth and hard surface. In spring, the plant is covered with beautiful tubular flowers with four petals. The color of the buds varies from light pink, white to bright pink. By autumn, the flowers ripen into oval, rich red (sometimes yellow) fruits, appearance reminiscent of barberry.
All parts of the shrub (bark, stem, flowers, berries, leaves) have a toxic property. For example, the wet bark of a plant, leaning against the skin, causes severe irritation and pain. When a few drops of wolfberry juice get in, a burn occurs, which is characterized by redness, the appearance of blisters and sores. Berries are considered deadly, 5 pieces of fruit are enough to cause severe poisoning.
Signs of poisoning with the fruits of wolf bast are:
- profuse salivation and problematic swallowing;
- pain in the intestines, accompanied by vomiting with blood impurities;
- burning sensation on the mucous membrane of the oropharynx and mouth;
- diarrhea;
- irritation of the conjunctiva of the eye;
- convulsions, weakness, fainting.
raven eye
This is a perennial small plant, no more than 40 cm high. Crow's eye or cross-grass has a long branched root shoot, a straight and smooth stem, crowned with a rosette of four (rarely five) leaves. The shape of the leaves of the crow's eye is oval or ovoid, pointed at the ends. The leaf arrangement is cruciform. In the center of the pedicel, a greenish-yellow flower blooms in spring. In late July - early August, a round blue-black berry, up to 1 cm in diameter, is formed from the flower, covered with a mucous coating.
A plant with a "crow" berry is often found in coniferous and deciduous forests, where there is shady place and lots of moisture. The composition of the plant and its berries includes a deadly poisonous substance- saponin paristifin. Lethal outcome entails a dose of 10 berries. When poisoning with the fruits of the crow's eye, the following symptoms are observed:
- sore throat;
- burning sensation in the mouth;
- nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain;
- dizziness, significant dilation of the pupils;
- strong headache;
- diarrhea;
- interruptions in the heart rhythm;
- heart failure;
- convulsions;
- cessation of breathing, paralysis of the respiratory center.
Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is a creeping, upright, climbing shrub representing the genus Honeysuckle. The plant can have a height of 60 to 120 centimeters, and some varieties grow up to 5 meters. The length of the leaves of honeysuckle is 2-3 centimeters, located on the office petioles, they are oblong, have a bright shade, below - pale. Honeysuckle flowers, like berries, can be varied - white, yellow, blue, pink. The plant blooms in the second half of May.
In the middle of summer, honeysuckle bears fruit. Berries have different shape, color and taste. There are varieties of fruits sweet, sour, sweet and sour, with bitterness, pineapple or strawberry flavor. Fruit color - dark blue, red, black, orange. The shape of the berry is spherical or oval. The plant is found in forests, it is grown in nurseries, used on summer cottages, vegetable gardens. Not all varieties of honeysuckle berries can be eaten, some of them are poisonous. hallmark edible fruits is the color. They eat only oblong blue and black berries.
Dereza vulgaris (goji) - Chinese berry for weight loss
Goji is a non-poisonous plant native to China, and its berries have beneficial properties and are widely used in medicine. The fruits of common wolfberry are very similar to barberry, have the same shape and color. The berry contains a huge amount useful substances, such as:
- minerals (21 items);
- amino acids;
- fruits contain B vitamins and a lot of vitamin C;
- beta carotene;
- polysaccharides;
- iron;
- calcium;
- phosphorus;
- monosaccharides;
- selenium.
Chinese doctors recommend using goji berries as a multivitamin food supplement. It is believed that wolfberry fruits slow down the aging process, can help in the fight against diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, crayfish. Goji berries are added by Chinese nutritionists to the diet for weight loss, as they:
- Promote the production of growth hormone, due to which the body burns fat.
- The berry contains a small amount of carbohydrates and has a low calorie content, therefore it is allowed while following the Dukan diet.
- Dereza fruits prevent the appearance of harmful free radicals, thereby alleviating the stress endured by the body during the diet.
- Fatty acids in the composition of the berry contribute to the acceleration of metabolism, remove toxins.
- The use of wolfberries improves eyesight.
- Helps to eliminate violations of the diuretic system.
It is impossible to guarantee one hundred percent weight loss when eating goji berries. The rate of weight loss depends not only on the fruits, but also on the chosen diet, diet, menu, individual characteristics organism. On average, when eating berries, 1-2 kilograms per week are lost. During the diet, in parallel with berries, only healthy food, reduce or completely abandon flour products. affect the rate of weight loss physical exercise and regular long walks fresh air. Dereza fruits are brewed as tea, added to cereals.
Useful properties of wolfberry and its application
Wolfberry is actively used in medicine for the treatment of diseases:
- hearts;
- nervous system;
- kidneys;
- liver;
- immune system;
- eye;
- joints;
- intestinal tract.
In folk medicine, decoctions and tinctures are prepared from wolf berries, which are then used to treat pneumonia, bronchitis, laryngitis, sciatica, paralysis, tonsillitis, tinnitus, and cardiovascular diseases. healing property, as well as toxic, is completely possessed by the whole plant (fruits, root, juice, leaves, stem), which is harvested only in dry weather. Because of the toxicity of official medicine, wolfberries are not used. The fruits are added to homeopathic medicines for the treatment of skin diseases.
- For the treatment of constipation, not berries are actively used, but the bark of the wolfberry plant. To do this, take dry bark (30 gr.), Finely chop. Pour the resulting mixture with 200 grams of 30% alcohol, let it brew for 10 days. Take tincture 1 teaspoon once a day.
- At hyperacidity gastritis use dereza leaves. Take 10 grams of dried leaves of oregano, plantain, nettle, wolfberry, add half a glass of water, boil for 10 minutes. Ready herbal tincture to drink three times a day after meals, 70 ml.
What to do with symptoms of poisoning by a poisonous plant
If you do not help a person who has been poisoned by wolf berries in time, a fatal outcome is inevitable. Poison properties The plant and its fruits spread throughout the body very quickly. With symptoms of poisoning with berries of any poisonous plant need to urgently call ambulance or take the victim to the nearest hospital. While waiting for the doctor, do the following:
- Try to free your stomach from poisonous berries. Induce vomiting. Make a gastric lavage from fruits: let the victim drink plenty of water (1-3 liters) with the addition of activated carbon(4 tablespoons per liter) or potassium permanganate, induce vomiting again so that the remnants of the fruit come out. Do the procedure several times.
- If there are medicines, give the patient any cardiac and laxative, because the toxic effect of the fruits of the plant causes cardiac arrest, desiccation of the body and shock.
- When a person has convulsions, after eating the fruits of a poisonous plant, use chloral hydrate or milk, a starch solution.
- After emergency care from poisoning with berries or a plant, put the victim to bed, wrap him in a blanket, cover him with warm heating pads and wait for the doctor.
Wolfberry, according to Wikipedia, is not at all one well-defined plant. This phrase is the collective name of many plants whose fruits are toxic or irritating. The group, popularly called "wolf berry", includes wolfberry, raven eye, raven, belladonna, red elderberry, castor bean, honeysuckle honeysuckle and others.
Belladonna, or common belladonna
So beautiful word, which means "beautiful lady" in translation, is a plant whose poisonous berries can cause the death of a person who has eaten it. The roots of this plant and its leaves are also harmful. Even just touching belladonna causes skin lesions similar to a chemical burn. That is why the people gave the belladonna another name - wolfberry. The plant itself can grow up to one and a half meters in height. Known belladonna Atropa, which is legendary. After all, the word Atropa comes from Atropos - the name of one of the three Fates. It was these Greek goddesses who allegedly held magic scissors in their hands, with which they cut the threads of human lives. But in real life wolfberry can just suddenly end the lives of not only people, but also animals.
St. John's wort
Speaking of poisonous berries, others should be recalled, such as, for example, the fruits of May lily of the valley, juniper Tamariscifolia, St. John's wort. And on these plants bright attractive berries ripen, which just ask to be put into the mouth. Many are confused by the fact that St. John's wort and lily of the valley are medicinal plants and should not seem to be fraught with danger. However, the fruits of these plants - inedible berries. For example, the St. John's wort family is often used as a hedge in gardens and yards. You can also find this shrub in the forests. When ripe, the berries first turn red and then turn black or purple. medicinal plants they are used in medicine. But it’s not recommended to eat attractive berries just like that - they are poisonous.
Nightshade
The Solanaceae family includes potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, physalis and nightshade itself. Nightshades also come in several varieties. Widely represented in middle lane Russian black nightshade is an annual herbaceous plant. It is found in ravines and gardens, on the coasts of reservoirs and in bushes. The ground part of the plant is often used to make medicines. But with berries you should be careful. This plant is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. After all, the ripe fruits of nightshade have been used by the people since ancient times, both raw and as a filling for pies. But unripe berries can cause severe poisoning. Therefore, you should be extremely careful if this insidious plant grows nearby. When picking berries for a pie, you need to carefully choose only ripe fruits of bright black color.
elderberry red
Both privet and red elderberry are not a rare old-timer in the yards, especially in rural areas. There is a belief that the clusters of bright berries of these plants scare away mice and rats. Perhaps that is why our ancestors planted these shrubs so actively. And in the spring they delight the eye with their beautiful flowering. But their berries are absolutely impossible to eat - they are poisonous! This is especially true of fresh fruits hanging on branches and seducing those who do not know about the dangers of these beautiful berries. Of course, it's better to just uproot this elderberry out of harm's way! But here lies the problem: this shrub is so tenacious that on next year from a small piece of root left in the ground, a new plant will again reach for the sun.
Deadly wolfberry, Wolf's bast, Wolf berries, Common wolfberry, Plokhovets, Pukhlyak - all these are the names of one plant - wolfberry(Daphne mezereum), belonging to the Volchnikov family (Thymelaeaceae).
The common wolfberry is found almost throughout Europe, in the Transcaucasus. In Russia, it grows throughout the forest zone of the European part and Western Siberia, in the North Caucasus, in Dagestan.
We have known since childhood that the Wolf's Bast plant is poisonous. It was even called specifically "Wolf Berries" so that, God forbid, the children would not get poisoned. They weren't even allowed to come close to him.
The common wolfberry is a low-branched deciduous shrub up to 1.5 meters tall. root system wolfberry superficial. The yellowish gray, slightly wrinkled bark will help you identify the shrub. In central Russia, the common wolfberry blooms in early spring, before all shrubs.
Wolfberry leaves are narrow, oblong, oblanceolate, simple, grow alternately at the ends of the shoots. They are dark green in color, smooth on top, slightly glossy, bluish below, ciliated at the edges, up to 8 cm long and up to 2 cm wide.
Bright pink fragrant honey-bearing flowers of the wolf's bast are arranged in a "bouquet" of 3-5 pieces in the axils of last year's fallen leaves.
Very interesting going on pollination of the wolfberry. Its flowers have a pronounced protogyny - more early ripening female reproductive organs compared to male.
The bright flowers of the common wolfberry appear in the forest before the leaves of the trees bloom. Insect pollinators - bees, butterflies - are attracted by nectar that stands out at the base of the ovary.
When an insect's proboscis penetrates the perianth tube, the pollen from the anthers surrounding the tube does not stick to it, as it is not sticky. Further, the proboscis of the bee touches the stigma, located much lower, and, finally, the nectaries. From the nectar, the proboscis becomes sticky, and when the insect pulls it out, it again comes into contact with the anthers. This time, the pollen sticks to the proboscis and is thus transferred to another flower.
After such fertilization, a fruit is formed in place of the flowers - a juicy ovoid red berry-drupe up to 8 mm long. The fruits of the common wolfberry ripen in late July - early August. Inside the berry is a shiny stone up to 4 mm in diameter.
Wolfberry is occasionally planted in gardens as ornamental plant, noteworthy early flowering spring and bright fruits in autumn. But because of the poisonousness of the plant, its use for decorative purposes is limited.
All parts of the common wolfberry, and especially the fruits, contain a sharply burning poison juice . The use of the plant for medicinal purposes is prohibited.
Poisoning can occur when eating berries (often by children), chewing the bark. When the skin comes into contact with wet bark or when plant juice gets on it, severe dermatitis occurs. Inhalation of dust from the bark of the wolfberry causes irritation of the mucous membranes of the pharynx and respiratory tract, contact with the eyes irritates the conjunctiva. After eating the berries, there is a burning sensation in the mouth, pain in the epigastric region, nausea, vomiting, weakness, convulsions are possible.
When writing the article, materials were used https://ru.wikipedia.org
Image source https://www.flickr.com: Hornet Arts, C. E. Timothy Paine, naturgucker.de / enjoynature.net
