Common acid - this is a storehouse of useful substances, a real natural pharmacy. The plant is inconspicuous, hiding in the woods. It is suitable for decorating garden spaces, growing quickly and not requiring special care. Its leaves, flowers attract tenderness, elegant simplicity.
Detailed description
Common Oxalis (Latin calls the plant oxalis acetosella, oxalis) is a herbaceous perennial. Representative of the genus Kislitsa (Oxalis). The people sometimes mention such names as cuckoo clover, rabbit cabbage, forest sorrel. It was no coincidence that the grass got such names.
Sour flower
Foliage, consisting of three interconnected heart-shaped leaves, resembles a clover. The greens taste pleasant, sweet and sour. This is a cross between garden sourness (sorrel) and fresh early cabbage.
The description of the common sour acid begins with the fact that the plant lives in groups, forming a light green carpet. Usually takes up space of two or more square meters. Heap habitat due to biological characteristics. The root system is a thin thread, spreading in different directions.
The color of the rhizome is brick, reddish brown. Most rhizomes are infected with fungi. Because of this, tiny bubbles, swelling are visible on it.
What does sour acid look like? Long petioles grow from the rhizome, at the ends of which there are leaves. There are no stems. Both leaves and flower arrows form on the petioles. The sour grass is not high. It grows from 4 to 8 cm.
Plant predicts rain
In May, miniature flowers bloom. They bloom until mid-June. Petals are white. Tiny lilac streaks are present. White color can be diluted with a shallow yellow tint. Flowers are pollinated by insects, and there are also self-pollinating specimens.
When an acidic berry ripens and turns into a fruit, tiny seeds are removed from the mother plant. This is due to a special tricky mechanism hidden in the shell of the fruit. When the seeds ripen, the fruit boxes burst, the seed fly apart. The power of the "explosion" allows them to fly away "from home" by 1.5 meters.
Additional Information. From the leaves of common sour, you can predict the weather. Before the storm they close and droop. The same thing happens at night.
Many people ask the question "sour acid is listed in the Red Book or not?". Experts assure that the plant is indicated in the red books of some regions, for example, Murmansk, Magadan, Penza regions.
Distribution and habitat
Oxalis acetosella can be found in many parts of the planet Earth, for example, in North America, Europe, Asia. In Russia, wild oxalis is a full-fledged resident of the forest territories of the entire middle zone, Siberia, and the eastern part of the country. In the south, it is too hot, but even here you can meet individual clearings of miniature grass.
The best place for rabbit cabbage is a forest. It is suitable mixed type forests, as well as deciduous or coniferous and even mountainous. She will feel good everywhere where loose fertile soil is moist, there is a slight coolness. Kukushkin clover shade-loving. Therefore, you need to look for it under the dense crowns of trees. According to scientific data, for good development, the grass needs only about 1-2% of the light per day.
Another characteristic indicator of the acidification habitat is the proximity of swamps, ponds, rivers, streams. Where sorrel grows, other well-known forest herbs can be found:
- nettles;
- burdock;
- fireweed;
- violet;
- marsh rosemary;
- Ivan tea, etc.
Flowering sour
The sour acid has an important property - unpretentiousness, it does not really matter who grows nearby. In this regard, it is the dominant, if necessary, can conquer any territory.
Growing
Unpretentious useful view was looked after by gardeners. Now sorrel is grown as a decorative culture. It decorates landscape solutions in many gardens, is an attribute of alpine hills, acts as a lawn under trees and in open areas.
Some gardeners grow acid even in pots at home, on porches and balconies. Home specimens also demonstrate vitality.
Before you begin to grow oxalis acetosella, you should familiarize yourself with some important conditions. Despite the fact that the plant is patient and tenacious, some gardener's mistakes can destroy it.
Experienced gardeners recommend that before starting to plant oxalis in your garden or on the windowsill, pay attention to five main points. Among them:
- seat selection;
- soil preparation;
Alpine Hare Cabbage
- fertilizer selection;
- proper care.
Seat selection
Much depends on which flowerbed or bed the oxalis of the forest or ordinary grows. For example, if you plant it in the central part of the area where the bright sun is baking, then the green carpet will turn yellow, it will dry out. Another thing is the shaded corners, for example, the sour tree feels good near a tree, under a wide crown. Another option is in the form of the lower tier of flower beds, where photophilous cultures rise above the delicate grass.
Oxygen in the forest fills large spaces due to the nature of the scattering of seeds. This cannot be allowed in the garden. Otherwise, cuckoo clover will turn into a weed, which is difficult to get rid of. Oxalis is recommended to clean away from the beds with vegetables, lettuce, potatoes.
Important! Planting in open ground in the middle lane occurs in May. Rabbit acid is not afraid of short frosts. The best air temperature for her is + 18 ... +25 degrees.
The soil
The plant adores light fertile soils in which there is enough peat. Therefore, before planting, it is necessary to dilute too clayey heavy sand with sand, add any kind of peat, compost. Pay attention to the acidity of the soil. It should be neutral. Low-acid soil is also allowed for planting.
Fertilizers
For good growth, the plant needs nutrients. Oxalis is a wild forest plant. Forest soil is nutritious, fertile. Therefore, in the garden, it is best to fertilize the beautiful grass. For this, complex mineral mixtures for flower crops are suitable. For instance:
- Nitrofoska;
- Ammophos;
- Nitroammofosk;
- Diammofoska, etc.
Such preparations for oxalis acetosella are used according to the instructions, and the dose should be halved. This is done due to the insignificant green mass, in comparison with other colors.
Care
Leaving consists in moderate watering (1 time in 1-2 days), spraying (since the plant cannot survive with overdried air). Fertilize it once every 1-1.5 months.
In regions with harsh winters, an acidic growing in the open air is allowed to cover with mulch, for example, fallen leaves, peat. In this case, any winter perennial is fearless.
Additional Information. If the plant is bred at home, then every year it needs to be transplanted. Pots are selected wide, but not high.
Breeding
Rabbit cabbage breeds in many ways. For instance:
- by seeds;
- tubers, bulbs;
- cuttings (petioles, leaves).
Different types of acid on the windowsill
Plant seeds and tubers in open ground should not be earlier than May. Petioles, leaves are first placed in a glass with water or in a pot with soil mixture. Experiments with propagation by cuttings are best performed in an apartment.
The chemical composition and properties of the species
What is acid? This is a natural pharmacy. The chemical composition strikes with useful elements. Even to taste, you can understand that in the form there are a variety of organic acids:
- amber;
- wine;
- lemon;
- oxalic;
- fumaric.
There are many vitamins in green foliage and petioles. Among which stand out:
- routine;
- vitamin C;
- Vitamin A, K, etc.
The plant acid description which contains information about the small size and special tenderness of the leaves, due to its chemical composition, is very useful. According to traditional medicine, the plant is able to have a healing effect with the following ailments:
- menstrual, head, muscle cramps;
- lack of appetite and anorexia;
- vitamin deficiency;
- diarrhea
- problems in the gastrointestinal tract;
- pneumonia
- high fever during the common cold;
- heart diseases.
Oxygen will cure stomatitis, abscesses on the skin and mucous membranes, heartburn. She is a good diuretic. Also removes bile. Leaves and flowers are eaten. They are added to salads, decorated with main dishes, soups, drinks. If you add a few blades of grass to tea, it will be enriched with vitamins and acquire a pleasant sourish aftertaste.
Note! The plant is considered not only useful, but also poisonous. Weed can cause harm if you use it in large quantities (more than 500 g per person per day). In this case, irritation in the urinary tract is observed. However, sour acid is not a shrub, therefore, usually the collection does not take place in such volumes.
The use of bunny cabbage in folk medicine
In folk medicine, oxalis acetosella is used in several forms. For instance:
- squeezing juice;
- cooking gruel;
- preparation of tincture;
- the manufacture of decoctions.
Juice from green mass helps with metabolic disorders, problems in the stomach and intestines, as well as to raise the tone in the body. It is used to get rid of worms. If you rinse your mouth with juice, you can be healed of stomatitis, ulcers, abscesses.
Healthy tea with edible acid and herbs
Gruel heals wounds, relieves swelling, removes bruising. Tincture is usually drunk in a course. It helps with serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and scurvy. Decoctions are indicated for colds, stomach cancer and helminth excretion.
The best recipes for healing products
Juice and honey
100 g of green mass are washed, dipped in boiling water for 30 seconds. After in a blender or grinder grind. Juice is being obsolete. The resulting drink is diluted with boiled water. The proportion is one to one. In the morning, afternoon and evening, the drink is taken at 10 g (teaspoon).
It is important to consume juice with fresh honey. About 5 g of honey per teaspoon of juice. This folk recipe is suitable for removing worms.
Sour Acid Juice
For effectiveness, you need to organize a weekly course, which after 4-5 weeks can be repeated again.
Pap from wounds, suppuration
The leaves of sour and plantain are ground. The resulting composition is applied to the affected areas of the body. You can fix the gruel with a bandage.
Strong infusion
15-40 g of leaves are washed, put in a glass jar and pour 300 ml of boiling water. The jar is wrapped in a towel and left for 60-90 minutes. The infusion is taken in a glass every one and a half to two hours. Such a cocktail will help with severe food poisoning, a hangover.
Milk broth
15-30 g of green mass are put in a bowl, where 300 ml of milk fat. Everything is cooked for 5 minutes, after 120-150 minutes are infused. The broth is taken in 2 tablespoons every 2-3 hours. Milk brew helps with colds, fever.
Oxalis ordinary will become an ornament of any site, window sill. This unpretentious plant does not require careful care. With beneficial properties, rabbit cabbage heals a number of ailments. The plant is the main ingredient for a large number of folk recipes. Do not forget about the reverse side of the coin - in large quantities, the grass is dangerous.
