Black root is a grassy biennial or perennial of the Borachnikov family. Due to the low decorativeness of some species, it is more like an ordinary weed, which is found on wastelands, roadsides and fields. The plant is also known by the names of "night blindness", "cat soap", "cynoglossum", "burdock", "red belena", "dog root". Black root has long been considered a useful plant. It is used in folk medicine and in the household. The sharp unpleasant smell of leaves and stalks repels rodents and harmful insects. Many decorative varieties are able to perfectly decorate the garden, so for blackroot you should definitely select at least a small area on the site.
Botanical characteristics
Black root is a herbaceous plant with an upright stalk 40-100 cm high. The core rhizome 25 mm thick feeds the flower. It is covered with dark reddish-brown bark. The shoot branches out in the upper part, forming a lot of lateral processes, which during flowering are covered with bright buds. The stems and leaves are densely pubescent with a short bluish pile.
Bright green leaves are located on the stems, which, due to the silver-gray villi, appear bluish. At the base of the shoot, the leaves have short petioles. Lanceolate or oblong leaf plate grows 15-20 cm in length, and 2-5 cm in width.
In late May, small flowers bloom on the tops of the shoots. Long flowering lasts all summer. The buds are collected in panicles. At first, the dense inflorescence is greatly shortened, but gradually it is extended and overgrown with new corollas. Flowers have a bright corolla of dark red, blue, pink, purple or blue-purple hue. A dense closed cup with a diameter of 5-7 mm ends with soft, strongly bent oblong-shaped petals. After pollination in late summer, the fruits ripen - oval nuts covered with many hooked spikes.
The juice of a fresh plant has a sharp unpleasant odor that resembles mouse urine. It is very poisonous, so after working in the garden you need to wash your hands thoroughly, as well as restrict access to black root for animals and children.
Plant species
The genus of black root includes 83 species of plants. Some of them are especially popular.
Black root medicinal. Plants with a height of about 90-100 cm have erect, highly branched stems. The opposite lanceolate leaves covered with felt pile are located along the entire height of the shoot. In June, panicled inflorescences of lilac-red color bloom at the ends of the shoots. Thin soft petals peek out from a closed funnel-shaped corolla. In the center is the peephole. The plant is used in folk medicine, as well as in the economy to combat mice, moles and rats.
Black root is pleasant. A decorative annual plant 40-50 cm tall forms sprawling, spherical bushes. Bright green stems and foliage are lowered by a grayish pile. Flowers with a diameter of about 15 mm are painted in bright blue and collected in panicled, growing inflorescences.
Cretan black root. An annual plant 30-60 cm tall has a single erect shoot. Oval leaves 10-15 cm long are located at its base. Sedentary opposite leaves of dark green color grow on the stem. All of the overgrowth is covered with a soft fork. In August, small flowers bloomed in spiral panicles. Petals of young flowers are painted white, then they turn blue or pink, and then light purple.
German black root. The plant with bright green growth is covered with silvery soft pile. Lanceolate leaves are located along the entire length of the stem. Lilac-pink small flowers bloom at the top of the shoots in July.
Growing
At home, black root is grown from seeds. They are collected from plants in the first or second year of life. Ripe, spiked seeds spill easily onto the ground and cling to clothes. Plants are highly frost resistant, so the seeds can be sown immediately in open ground. Crops are performed in autumn to a depth of 2-3 cm. If necessary, the earth is periodically moistened.
In spring, the first shoots of black root appear in the form of a rosette of long basal leaves. If necessary, plants can be transplanted with a large lump of land. In order to better root the seedling, “Kornevin” and “Ammonium nitrate” are added to the new planting hole.
Care Rules
Black root is very unpretentious. Even on very hot days, he needs rare watering. Plants are resistant to frost and drought, but love bright lighting. They are planted in open areas with fertile soil. Black root does not tolerate acidic soils. He needs earth with a neutral or alkaline reaction. For this, lime is recommended to be added to the ground. Before planting, the soil is dug up, large clods of earth are broken.
The plant is not afraid of sudden changes in temperature and drafts, however, it is recommended to tie up high growth so that it does not fall apart.
Tsinoglossum tolerates drought better than flooding the soil. It is rarely watered, not more than once a week in the absence of natural rainfall. Watering during flowering is especially important. Without it, the number of buds will decrease significantly.
Blackroot is fed from the second year of life. It is enough to add a solution of organic or mineral fertilizer to the soil in spring and early summer.
Black root bushes are good on their own and do not need pruning. The plant is characterized by an increase in inflorescences. That is, the stem gradually grows from above and new buds appear on it in a spiral.
Blackroot does not suffer from parasite attacks and plant diseases. Moreover, he himself is an effective insecticide (repels mosquitoes, moths, slugs and other pests), not only from himself, but also from the rest of the inhabitants of the garden.
Black root pests
If black root grows in the garden, then the number of raids from mice, rats and moles will be significantly reduced. This means that root vegetables and garden trees will not suffer significant damage. These animals do not tolerate the pungent smell of plant juice. In its fresh form, it is also unpleasant for humans, but dried grass is not so fragrant for people.
The shoots and roots of cynoglossum are laid out in basements, sheds and other rooms. Decoction from the plant can be added to the whitewash for the walls. In winter, bunches of dry grass are scattered near garden trees to protect their bark from rodents. To ward off moles, seeds are poured into holes.
Animals try to avoid blackroot. If you have to be in direct contact with him, death occurs within a few minutes. Vapors of alkaloids have a nerve-paralytic effect.
Medicinal properties
Black root juice contains resins, essential oils, alkaloids, coumarins, dyes and tannins. Root rhizomes and shoots are harvested as medicinal raw materials. Blackroot preparations have antibacterial, sedative, anti-inflammatory, astringent and analgesic effects.
Ointments and lotions help get rid of burns, irritations on the skin and boils. With an upset or inflammation of the intestine, as well as with cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, take alcohol tinctures and decoctions. From broths make baths for dulling pain in bone fractures and arthritis.
In landscape design
Bushes of decorative black root varieties are suitable for decorating flower beds, decorating mixborders, and are also used in bright group plantings in the middle of the lawn. The plant can be grown not only in open ground, but also in containers on the balcony or terrace. In the garden, the best neighbors in the flower garden for a flower are verbena, aster, matthiola, snapdragon and echinacea. Dense inflorescences are used to make bouquets. In a vase, black root will stand for more than two weeks.
