Description of the types where the Christmas tree grows. Review of the best types and decorative varieties of spruce for growing in the garden
(Picea abies Karst.)
European or common spruce is an ordinary miracle!
Spruce (Picea) is a genus of coniferous evergreen trees of the pine family. Spruce is one of the main forest-forming species in our country and one of the most powerful trees. In Russia, Norway spruce or common spruce grows in the northern and middle zones of the European part of the country, in the south to the central black earth strip of forest-steppe, in the east it reaches the Urals; Siberian spruce is widespread in the Urals and Siberia. Spruce grows on damp places, on rich loamy soils, in parks.
The growth of spruce does not stop throughout the life of the tree, and by 150-200 years it can reach a height of 50 meters and a trunk diameter of 80-100 cm. In total, about 40 species of spruce are known, all of them grow in the Northern Hemisphere. Spruce is frost-resistant, can withstand temperatures down to -52°C in winter, although young trees
They do not tolerate spring and autumn frosts well; young branches may freeze.
Most best holiday Every year we meet with a Christmas tree or spruce branches, bringing a fresh smell of pine needles and a feeling of freshness into our home. Spruce - conifer tree with a cone-shaped crown, pointed, flattened-tetrahedral needles, male and female bumps, dark brown seeds with long wings. Seeds remain viable for 8 - 10 years.
Spruce, like other representatives of the pine family, distinguishes great amount phytoncides that kill any harmful microflora in the air. In a spruce forest there is always clean, fresh, almost sterile air - that’s why many sanatoriums try to locate in coniferous forests so that a person’s stay there around the clock has its healing effect.
Scientific name genus picea - from the Latin word pix - “resin”, which is abundantly secreted by all plants of the pine family. The scientific name of the species, abies, is translated from Latin as “spruce.” Russian name of the genus “spruce” - is of Indo-European origin.
Since ancient times, spruce has been used by people for healing various diseases. WITH therapeutic purpose Spruce needles, young shoots, and young cones are used as medicinal raw materials. They contain tannins, vitamin C, carotene, essential oil, resin, mineral salts of iron, chromium, copper, aluminum, manganese.
Spruce preparations have diuretic, diaphoretic, choleretic, antiscorbutic, analgesic, and wound-healing effects. To prepare the preparations, take fresh pine needles or those located in outdoor conditions, since when the pine needles are ate in a warm place, the vitamin C content in it quickly decreases. Spruce branches can be stored in a room for no more than 10 days, dipping the lower ends into water.
Spruce beneficial properties. Useful properties of pine needles
Spruce needle oil, added to water for inhalation, miraculously relieves coughs, facilitates sputum separation, and treats purulent otitis media and sore throat. An infusion of young pine needles has the same effect, which, in addition to its bactericidal effect, is a source of vitamins.
With a lack of vitamin C - vitamin deficiency, as an antiscorbutic remedy,
for acute and chronic respiratory diseases - sore throat, bronchitis, tracheitis, bronchial asthma:
- Pour 40 g of chopped spruce needles with a glass of boiling water, boil for 20 minutes, leave, then strain. The resulting infusion is drunk during the day, 1/3÷1/2 cup.
This infusion of spruce needles is very useful after serious illnesses, with dry and cracking skin. The infusion of pine needles has a diuretic and antimicrobial effect, as it contains essential oil; the beneficial properties of pine needles are used for treatment of kidney and urinary tract diseases .
You can also prepare a vitamin infusion from fresh pine needles:
- 4 cups of spruce needles, pour 0.5 liters of cold water, add citric acid, leave for 2 - 3 days in a dark place, strain. Drink 1 glass a day in 2-3 doses for vitamin deficiencies.
Spruce cones have medicinal properties . A decoction of unripe spruce cones (collected in June - September) is used to prevent infectious diseases.
For sore throat, tonsillitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, rhinitis:
— Pour 50 g of crushed cones into a glass of water, boil for 30 minutes over low heat, then strain. Use 5-6 times a day as a rinse or instill a few drops into both nostrils.
For the treatment of rheumatism, nervous and skin diseases It is good to use pine baths.
For skin diseases, gout and joint damage due to rheumatism:
- Pour 500 g of the tops of young branches with buds into 2.5 liters of water, boil for 30 minutes, then add the decoction to a bath of warm water;
- Pour 500 g of crushed pine needles into 2.5 liters of water, boil for 10 minutes, then leave for 12 hours, strain, add to a bath with warm water.
Watch a short video about the beneficial properties of pine needles Let's heal with the Christmas tree! :
Boils, pustules, difficult-to-heal ulcers and wounds are dealt with using an ointment prepared from spruce resin, wax and butter. For the same purpose, you can use dry spruce resin powder.
WARNING:
The use of spruce preparations is contraindicated for gastritis, stomach and duodenal ulcers!
In the pharmaceutical industry, synthetic camphor is extracted from spruce, which is included in balms for rubbing joints for rheumatism and arthritis, as well as drugs prescribed for heart disease. Turpentine, purified in a special way, is also used in official medicine for the preparation of warming, analgesic ointments - turpentine ointment, "Efkamon" ointment and balms - "Tiger" balm. Ready-made extracts are available for sale that have a relaxing, calming effect in the treatment of nervous and cardiovascular diseases.
Spruce wood is soft, but strong and elastic, used in the manufacture of furniture, in construction for interior decoration, paper and musical instruments are made from it.
Turpentine, rosin, and tar are obtained from spruce wood, tannins are obtained from the bark, and oil is obtained from cone seeds. Terpene hydrate is obtained from turpentine, a substance with an expectorant effect; it is used in the form of tablets for the treatment of chronic bronchitis.
Tar, obtained from wood, is widely used in the form of 10 - 30% ointments for the treatment of eczema, lichen, and other skin diseases.
So diverse medicinal properties possesses - an ordinary miracle!
Get to know it better and use the beneficial properties of pine needles to maintain and improve your health!
Norway spruce is also known as Norway spruce. There are more than a hundred varieties. Only a few representatives of the genus are used for cultivation at home. Characterized by relatively slow growth. Depending on the subspecies, the height of the tree can reach from two to eight meters. IN wild environment Larger specimens are found. The branches are located horizontally. The diameter of the uneven crown is about two and a half meters. The needles are usually short. It has a thick structure and a glossy shine. Norway spruce looks especially impressive in early spring. Small bumps form on young shoots. There are varieties with red modified shoots. The plant is used to improve the area. The tree harmonizes delightfully in rock gardens and group plantings with annuals. Spruce is also cultivated as a tapeworm.
To grow spruce you need to choose a lighted place.
The plant is quite light-loving. Can tolerate light partial shade.
Watering
Spruce does not tolerate swampy substrate. During the summer drought, it is advisable to evenly moisten the soil. After watering, you need to loosen the tree trunk circle.
Transfer
Gardeners cannot come to a consensus regarding the effect of replanting on spruce. The plant tolerates changes in site zones well in early spring at temperatures down to -5 degrees. Severe frosts can damage root hairs. With the help of shoots, the plant receives minerals and water.
It is necessary to carefully remove the tree from the ground. It is important to keep the earthen ball intact. Before planting, you need to treat the roots with Kornevin. Hormonal feeding should be continued for an already planted plant for ten days. It is imperative to maintain uniform substrate moisture. For one watering, it is recommended to use at least three buckets of water at room temperature.
When choosing a seedling, you should also take into account the length of the spruce. Representatives of the family, about one and a half meters high, take root well. It is advisable to use a garden wheelbarrow for transportation. You will need to cover the top with a clean cloth.
Trimming
Growing spruce as a hedge will require periodic registration. Proper pruning will help create an impenetrable green wall.
In spring or late autumn All broken, damaged and dry branches must be removed. The tree produces a delightful crown naturally.
The plant tolerates pruning well.
Often, two apical parts of spruce begin to form simultaneously. It is necessary to cut off one of the tops at the base.
Preparing for winter
After planting, small Christmas trees require protection from scorching sun rays, returning or early autumn frosts. Several decorative forms of the genus also require shading and shelter.
After planting, be sure to cover the soil at the base with mulch. It is recommended to use softened peat. The needles should be covered with spruce branches, non-woven dense material or craft paper.
Features of breeding in open ground
To plant on the site, you need to choose the right time. It is advisable to move the tree to open ground in May, after the soil has completely warmed up. If it is too cold in the spring, you should postpone planting to the end of August or the beginning of the autumn season.
All varieties have their own requirements for the planting site. Representatives of the genus need proper preparation holes. It is necessary to dig a groove at least sixty centimeters deep. Between the holes you need to leave a distance of about two and a half meters for the full formation of the crown.
At the bottom of the groove you need to lay out a thick layer of broken brick. It will take about fifteen centimeters. Then you need to fill the hole 2/3 with a nutrient soil mixture. As a substrate, it is necessary to use leaf soil, turf soil, peat and sand. It is also recommended to add “Nitroammofoska”.
To protect the spruce, you need to lay out a thick layer of mulch.
It's important to keep track correct location seedling The root bud should remain at ground level. It is necessary to inspect the spruce regularly. The bud should not sink into the ground or become exposed. After planting, you should water the plant abundantly and cover it with a peat layer.
Growing technology
Substrate
The composition of the soil mixture depends on the method of tree propagation. To grow spruce from seeds, an acidic substrate should be prepared.
At garden centers you can purchase a ready-made mixture for coniferous crops. At home, you will need to mix the soil from coniferous forest and universal primer.
How to fertilize
Norway spruce responds well to periodic feeding. The plant is in dire need of nutritious soil.
Growing in a pot
For breeding spruce in indoors it is necessary to create favorable conditions. Norway spruce prefers brightly lit rooms.
Small specimens need warm and well-lit microclimatic conditions. It is necessary to protect fragile needles from direct sunlight. IN winter time year, you can reduce the air temperature to + 10 degrees. The forest tree can also withstand frost. It is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of the soil. The substrate should not freeze.
In early spring, after the arrival of the first spring warmth, it is recommended to move the plant to the balcony. It is advisable to gradually accustom the tree to new environment. Dramatic influence scorching sun can damage the plant.
Proper watering guarantees successful cultivation in room conditions. It is recommended to moisten the soil abundantly from early March to September. In autumn, you should gradually reduce the amount of watering. In winter, you can moisten the soil no more than once every twenty days. You can follow the regime provided the air temperature is cool - from +6 to +10 degrees. At zero temperatures, watering can be done once a month.
Norway spruce can be transplanted into a container for indoor growing.
Unlike other representatives of the flora, the plant needs spraying precisely in the cold season.
Non-compliance simple recommendations may cause tree diseases. At home, common spruce often sheds its needles due to improper watering, low or too high temperatures, and also under the open scorching sun.
Wrinkled needles on an indoor tree indicate a slightly acidic soil reaction. It is necessary to add soil from under coniferous crops to the top layer of the substrate.
The characteristics and features of Norway spruce can be learned from the plot:
The main problems, pests and diseases of spruce on the site
The yellowness of the needles appears due to the settlement of Hermes fir. Pest colonies resemble white cotton wool. The insect prefers the lower parts of the needles.
To get rid of the pest, it is necessary to spray the tree with a solution of “Antio” and “Rogor”. You will need twenty grams of product per ten liters of water.
Burnt shoots indicate a settlement of the common spruce sawfly. At the first signs of caterpillar settlement, it is necessary to spray Fufan on the tree. For one treatment, you need to prepare a solution of twenty milliliters of product and ten liters of water.
Brown spots and yellowing, as well as browning of needles, appear in spruce infected with common schutte. For treatment, it is recommended to use “Colloidal sulfur”, “Bordeaux mixture” and “Zineb” in early spring, as well as at the end of August. To use the first drug, you will need to prepare a solution of 200 grams of the product and ten liters of water. For the next two preparations, you can dilute 100 grams of the product in ten liters of warm liquid.
Similar solutions will help get rid of rust. Determining the disease is quite simple. Orange dots appear on the needles. The shoots become covered with swellings. At the stage of severe damage, all diseased branches must be removed. It may also be necessary to remove the tree from the ground. A dangerous disease quickly infects other garden plants.
Characteristics of flowering and allergic reactions
Male and female cones are formed on spruce.
Spruce lacks the usual formation of flowers. At the end of spring, reproductive organs appear on the tree. The patches resemble inflorescences and perform similar functions.
The spruce blooms at the same time as the bird cherry. At the ends of the branches in the upper zone of the crown you can see bright red bumps. This is the earliest stage of the familiar, autumn brown bud.
The female cone is located inside the kidney. Before flowering, the bud swells greatly and sheds its protective red cap. In the freed female cone there is a rod with big amount thin scales. In a broken young cone you can see several tubercles. The formed ovules subsequently turn into rudiments. After two weeks, the cones will change direction of growth. They will hang down.
Male cones are small in size. There are red and greenish with a yellow tint. On the outside, two oblong bags are made.
The crowns of individual representatives are richly decorated with bright red male cones. Spruce pollen is carried over long distances. A characteristic powdery mass can be seen on various objects.
It is very difficult to see the lumps up close. They are located high above the ground. Unlike pine, Norway spruce forms cones already in the first year of its life cycle.
Spruce indoors can cause an allergic reaction. In fact, it is not the tree that causes intolerance, but mold fungi. Particles of epithelium and dust mites often settle on the needles.
Wood contains resin and pollen, which can also cause irritation. A cough, runny nose, and red eyes appear. In rare cases, skin reactions and exacerbation may occur. bronchial asthma.
Reproduction
It is not recommended to use purchased seeds. Seed material often loses its viability under unfavorable storage conditions. It is advisable to collect seeds at the end of October or beginning of November. The cones should be brought home and laid out on a dry surface next to heating appliances.
After drying, seeds will appear. The collected rudiments must be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then it should be placed in a container with heated sand. The planting depth should not exceed 1.5 centimeters. The bowl needs to be moved to the refrigerator door to create wild conditions.
With the help of stratification, germination can be effectively stimulated. After three months, the container should be taken out to a warm room. It is recommended to keep seedlings on the windowsill.
How to care for sown seeds
It is necessary to constantly maintain uniform substrate moisture. On a warm window there should be sufficient quantity solar lighting. After 2 weeks the first shoots will appear. It is not advisable to flood the seedlings with water. Young spruce may rot.
What to do with sprouts
It is important to maintain moderation in watering. It is also recommended to periodically fertilize the soil. Before planting, fertilizers can be applied to the soil 2 times. It is necessary to loosen the top layer of the substrate. As a preventative measure, it is advisable to treat the spruce with a weak insecticide solution.
Transplantation into the ground
After planting in open soil, spruce needs timely watering.
The grown sprouts in pots can be planted on the site. Brittle spruce needs to be created optimal conditions. Therefore, it is recommended to move the plant to an open area at the end of May.
Compost and stimulating minerals should be added to the planting hole.
The seedling must be evenly placed in the hole and covered with soil. Lightly level the soil and water the plant. On top you need to cover the spruce with a cut plastic bottle. With the help of the greenhouse effect, the plant will quickly take root.
It is necessary to periodically open the spruce to remove condensation and allow air circulation. After a week, the bottle can be removed and the top layer of the substrate can be mulched.
Features of spruce
Some varieties can bear fruit only thirty times during the entire life cycle (about 500 years).
Spruce varieties are distinguished by faded and sparse flowering. The period of formation of cones takes about 7 days. Cones are often mistakenly called fruits. In fact, these are modified shoots.
The absence of flowering in the current season does not always indicate damage to the crop and unfavorable growing conditions.
How to choose planting material
A common spruce 2 meters high in burlap, as well as with an earthen lump in a metal mesh, can be purchased for two thousand rubles. The average price for the dwarf spruce variety “Nidiformis” is 450 rubles.
Description
Norway spruce (Picea abies)- a tree 30 - 35 m high, crown diameter 6 - 8 m. In favorable conditions it can grow up to 50 m. The needles are needle-shaped, tetrahedral, 1-2 cm long, dark green. Annual growth is 50 cm in height, 15 cm in width. Up to 10-15 years it grows slowly, then quickly. U common spruce the crown is cone-shaped, with distant or drooping branches, rising at the end, and remains sharp until the end of life. The bark is reddish-brown or gray, smooth or fissured, of varying degrees and nature of fissuring, relatively thin. The shoots are light brown or rusty yellow, glabrous. Sensitive to pollution and dry air. Tolerates shade well. Durability 250 - 300 years.
Size: | height 15-20 m, diameter 6-8 m. |
Root system: | superficial, widely spread, highly branched; deep on drained soil. |
Growth rate: | up to 10-15 years it is low, then it accelerates to 70 cm per year, after 100-120 years growth slows down again. |
Light: | sun, partial shade, shade. |
Soils: | moderately moist loams, light soils with a slightly alkaline reaction (see). |
Watering: | V dry periods watering required. |
Winter hardiness: | USDA zone 3 (see). |
Fruit: | cones are 10-15 cm long and 3-4 cm thick, light green, brownish-brown when mature. |
Planting and caring for spruce ordinary
Do not allow soil compaction and moisture stagnation. The planting site should be away from groundwater. It is imperative to make a drainage layer, in the form of sand or broken brick, 15-20 cm thick. If spruce trees are planted in groups, then the distance for tall spruce trees should be from 2 to 3 m. The depth of the planting hole is 50-70 cm.
It is important that the root collar is at ground level. You can prepare a special soil mixture: leaf and turf soil, peat, and sand in a ratio of 2:2:1:1. Immediately after planting, the tree must be watered generously with 40 - 50 liters of water. It is advisable to apply fertilizer (100-150 g of nitroammophoska, 10 g of kornevin per 10 l, etc.).
Spruce trees do not like dry hot weather, therefore in hot season they need to be watered once a week, approximately 10-12 liters per tree. Carry out shallow loosening (5cm). For the winter, sprinkle peat around the trunk with a thickness of 5-6 cm; after winter, the peat is simply mixed with the ground, not removed. Spruce trees can also be planted in winter.
Approximately 2 times a season you can apply fertilizer for coniferous plants.
Typically, spruce trees do not need pruning, but if they form a hedge, pruning is allowed. As a rule, diseased and dry branches are removed. It is best to carry out pruning in late May - early June, when the period of active sap flow ends.
To protect the decorative forms of spruce from autumn and winter frosts they can be covered with spruce branches. (cm. , ).
Picea abies (L.) Karst. - a well-known evergreen coniferous tree from the pine family (Pinaceae) with a height of 20-30 (up to 40, and in Western Europe even up to 50) m with a pyramidal crown. Growth in height does not stop almost throughout life, and even old trees retain their pointed conical shape. The trunk is slightly tapering, that is, it gradually decreases in diameter from the base to the top. Very large individuals have thick trunks with a diameter at the base of up to 1 m. The bark of the branches is red-brown, smooth, brownish-gray on the trunks, with an uneven surface, peeling off in small areas. The branches are arranged in regular whorls, each year is marked with a new whorl, which makes it easy to determine the age of the tree by their number.
Young branches are densely covered with leaves. The leaves are single, hard, needle-shaped, up to 2-2.5 cm long and 1-1.5 mm thick, dark green, shiny, tetrahedral, pointed at the end, therefore spiny. Such leaves are called needles. Each needle lives and stays on the branches for 6-7 (sometimes 12) years, although in urban plantings the life of needles is shorter.
Spruce does not have pronounced leaf fall: the needles fall off gradually, and new ones do not grow at the same time.
The plants are monoecious: one individual develops both male and female generative organs, collected in spikelets. Spruce, like all other gymnosperms, does not have flowers or true fruits. In the lower part of the shoot there are male spikelets, in the upper part - female ones, larger in size, reddish-brown in color. Male spikelets are elongated-cylindrical, look like reddish-yellow cones 2-2.5 cm long, surrounded at the base by light green scales. Pollen disperses in May-June, after which the male spikelets fall off. Pollination is carried out by the wind. Each speck of dust is equipped with two appendages - air sacs, which provides it with exceptional volatility. Observations have shown that the spread of pollen from a spruce tree can reach 8-10 km.
Fertilized ovules develop into seeds, and the entire female spikelet during the summer and autumn is transformed into a kind of organ - a cone, consisting of an axis and woody light brown scales attached to it; seeds are placed in their axils. The cones are hanging, cylindrical, smoothly rounded at both ends, 10-16 cm long and 3-4 cm in diameter. At first they are red, then turn green, and when they become mature, they turn brown. A good-sized cone can develop up to 200 seeds. The seeds are dark brown, ovoid, small - there are 1 05-1 10 thousand spruce seeds in 1 kg.
Spruce seeds ripen in September-October and spill out of the cones only in winter and early spring, but the opened cones themselves continue to hang on the tree for quite a long time. They fall whole, covering the soil in places with a continuous cover, and do not collapse for a long time. Each seed is equipped with a light brown wing that facilitates the dispersal of seeds by the wind. In the second half of winter, the snow is often covered with an ice crust (crust). So, the wind often blows spruce seeds across the crust over a considerable distance.
Spruce reproduces by seed. Experts have calculated that in good years there may be up to 5 million seeds per 1 hectare of spruce forest. Of course, not all of them germinate and, moreover, not at the same time. Seeds remain viable for up to 10 years. The seedlings bring to the surface 8-9 (from 5 to 1 0) cotyledons, which remain green for 2-3 years, although in the very first years real leaves-needles appear. During the first year of life, seedlings reach only 4-5 cm in height. And in subsequent years the seedling is no different rapid growth- by the age of 10, the Christmas tree grows by 1-2 m. Only from 15-20 years old does the growth of the spruce accelerate; it gives the largest increase (up to 70 cm per year) at the age of 35-65 years. Unlike many tree species The spruce continues to grow in height until the end of its life.
The first cones (and seeds) appear on young spruce trees at 15 years old if they grow in lighted areas. In the forest, spruce begins to bear seeds only at 25-30 years of age, and in dense plantations even later - at 50-70 years of age. It is curious that trees that are just beginning to produce seeds develop only female spikelets in the first years. Seed years are repeated every 3-7 years. Total life expectancy spruce trees- from 200 to 400 years, but some trees reach an age of 600 and even 800 years.
Norway spruce is widespread throughout the forest zone of Europe, including European Russia, forming pure and mixed forests. Southern border spruce forests generally coincide with the northern border of chernozem. This does not mean that it cannot grow on black soil - it grows well in plantings throughout the Russian Black Earth region.
In the Cis-Ural region, Norway spruce is gradually being replaced by a related species - Siberian spruce (Picea obovafa Ledeb.J, which is distinguished by smaller cones with wide whole scales. The range of Siberian spruce extends from the very northern latitudes Scandinavia to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. In the sector between the White Sea and the Urals, it forms the northern border of the forest. This is an important forest-forming species of the Ural and Siberian taiga. In total, about 25% of the total forest area in our country is occupied by spruce plantations.
Spruce is widely grown in urban plantings, and along with domestic species, some foreign forms are also cultivated, which are particularly decorative, for example blue spruce North American origin. Norway spruce is widely grown in roadside plantings, in particular, it is planted with railways, which protects them from snow drifts.
Norway spruce is a shade-tolerant and frost-resistant species that avoids habitats with stagnant moisture. In unfavorable conditions, for example on the northern border of the forest, it forms an elfin form. Its root system is superficial, lying mainly in the layer of soil and ground to a depth of 0.8-1 m, so the spruce weakly resists wind blows. Suffering greatly from forest fires, even grassroots, since its bark is quite thin and cambium tissues quickly die from overheating. Doesn't tolerate well high temperature and especially dry air.
Spruce conquers new territory only with the help of small-leaved tree species, most often birch. A birch tree grows in a free area, and in this new birch forest the spruce seeds that have flown here germinate. Spruce seedlings feel good under the birch canopy (in open areas they die from various reasons, including due to strong illumination and dry air that they cannot tolerate). Young fir trees gradually outgrow the birch in height and instead of gratitude for good conditions“children’s and youth’s” life is strangled by the birch tree, creating unbearable lighting conditions with their dense crowns.
Economic use of spruce
Spruce wood serves as the main raw material for the production of paper and cardboard. Until recently, 70% of world paper production came from spruce raw materials. Spruce wood is widely used in construction (“a spruce hut and a healthy heart”), in carpentry, in particular in the manufacture of furniture. Telegraph poles and railway sleepers are made from it. Spruce wood is indispensable for making some musical instruments, such as violins. For this purpose, trees that are most often chosen are those that have withered on the root and have stood dry for several years. Trees whose wood is suitable for making stringed instruments are called resonant spruce. ,
Waste spruce wood that is not needed by woodworking production: sawdust, chips, trimmings, shavings, etc., is a raw material for chemists. From this seemingly garbage, ethyl alcohol is obtained by hydrolysis, which is consumed in many industries, as well as valuable construction material- plasticizer. Dry distillation of non-commercial spruce wood produces acetic acid and methyl alcohol- intermediate products of many valuable chemical compounds.
Spruce bark contains a lot of tannins used in tanning. Turpentine and rosin are obtained from resin obtained by cutting the bark of spruce trees. And these products, as you know, are in wide demand in various sectors of the economy, culture and medicine.
Unfortunately, spruce as a medicinal plant is still clearly underused. Scientists have calculated how unacceptably we waste the so-called gifts of nature. Their calculations are so impressive that I would like to present them in full, although they seem to be boring and intended for specialists.
In our country, up to 200 million m3 of commercial spruce timber were harvested annually (almost 100% of spruce harvesting was carried out in Russia, so everything said here applies not so much to the USSR as to Russia). For every cubic meter of wood there is up to 500 kg of waste, the main part of it (up to 250 kg) is woody greens (timbered branches), which can serve as raw materials for the production of many useful products, including vitamins and medicines.
Judge for yourself. Spruce needles contain: chlorophyll, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon salts; microelements: Al, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Ag, Pb, S, B. 19 amino acids were isolated from spruce needles, incl. lysine, arginine, glycine, threonine, valine, leucine, alanine, aspartic and glutamic acids. The total amino acid content is 0.7-4.9% by weight of dry needles.
Spruce needles are a concentrate of vitamins. The following were found in dry needles: carotene (provitamin A), tocopherol (vitamin E), phylloquinone (vitamin K), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), flavonoids with P-vitamin activity, thiamine (vitamin B), riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B3), nicotinic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), biotin (vitamin B7), folic acid (vitamin B9).
And all this wealth is practically not used.
It is impossible not to mention the custom of meeting New Year with a Christmas tree. The custom is, of course, good, but at the same time it carries great losses for our forests.
Spruce seeds are an important winter food for squirrels and granivorous birds wintering in Russia, such as crossbills, which even hatch their chicks in winter.
Medicinal value of spruce and methods of medicinal use
Spruce has medicinal use in its coniferous branches (“paws”), which can be collected throughout the year (while trying not to damage the tree branches). They contain essential oil, trace elements (iron, manganese, chromium, aluminum, copper), stilbene, caffeic acid. It is believed that the presence of stilbene makes the study of pine needle extracts promising as sources of contraceptives.
Spruce needles contain a significant amount of ascorbic acid. As it turned out, it contains 6 times more vitamin C than lemon and orange, and 25 times more than onions and potatoes. Its greatest concentration is in winter and early spring. People have long used the paws of spruce (as well as other conifers) to obtain a drink rich in vitamin C. This drink is used to treat scurvy, and they drink it to prevent vitamin deficiencies, especially in late winter and early spring, when there are no other vitamin-containing greens yet. Add 40g of pine needles to 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 20 minutes. and insist. The resulting infusion is drunk in 2-3 doses throughout the day.
In the midst of a flu epidemic, it is useful to burn small pieces of spruce resin several times a day in the room where a flu patient is lying. The persistent resinous smell that accompanies this procedure pleasantly aromatizes the room. The resin itself and its combustion products have a healing effect on the patient and disinfect the air.
Spruce is the most ancient medicinal tree in the Russian forest. More primitive people used it for treatment. The air in the spruce forest is almost sterile. Fans of walks through the spruce forest have probably noticed how the feeling of depression and helplessness that arises at the sight of dark green giants, under whose crowns nothing grows, is replaced by confidence in one’s own abilities and peace of mind. Walking through a green forest is very good for your health.
For throat diseases, colds, acute and chronic respiratory diseases (tonsillitis, tracheitis, bronchial asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis), use an infusion of pine needles. Gargle with the decoction and drop into the nose (for vasomotor rhinitis), 4-5 drops into both nostrils. The temperature of the decoction is 35 °C.
Folk remedy for cough, flu, pharyngitis, laryngitis, bronchitis - syrup from honey and spruce buds. Spruce or fir buds collected at the end of May, when they have grown 3-5 cm, washed in cold water, finely chopped. % For 1 kg of kidneys - 3-4 liters of water. Boil in an enamel bowl for 10-15 minutes, strain, let it settle and strain again through cheesecloth. For 1 kg of the resulting decoction, add 1 kg of honey and South propolis extract (extract: 30 g of propolis per 100 ml of alcohol), mix well and heat to 40-45 ° C. Once cooled, pour into bottles and store them closed in a cool place. Take 1 teaspoon before meals 3 times a day.
Make a mixture of spruce resin and yellow wax (one part by weight of each component). Melt the mixture and cool. Place pieces of the mixture on hot coals, breathe in the smoke released in case of persistent old cough, chronic bronchitis.
At the same time, you can take a decoction of spruce shoots in milk orally. Pour 30g of shoots or young cones into 1 liter of milk and cook in a sealed container for 30 minutes. Strain and take in small portions throughout the day. This decoction is also recommended for the treatment of inflammatory processes in the respiratory system, dropsy and scurvy.
Green spruce cones are poured with water in a ratio of 1:5 and boiled for 30 minutes. The resulting decoction is gargled and dripped into the nose.
For kidney stones and renal colic, the drug pinabine is used, which is a mixture essential oil from spruce (or pine) needles and peach oil (in equal parts). It has an antispasmodic effect on the muscles of the urinary tract and inhibits the development of pathogenic bacteria in them.
Take 5-20 drops of sugar 2 times a day before meals for 4-5 weeks.
You can take pinabine only as prescribed by a doctor, as there are contraindications for it.
Various ointments are used to treat pustules, wounds and ulcers. The simplest of them is an ointment made from spruce resin melted with lard.
Coniferous resin - 100g, unsalted pork lard - 100g, natural beeswax - 100g. Put everything in a saucepan. If the resin is dry, grind it into powder. Boil over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring the mixture all the time, removing foam from the surface. Remove from heat. When the mixture becomes warm, transfer it to a glass jar. Store the ointment in the refrigerator.
Rinse the wound with lime water (1 tablespoon of quicklime per 1 liter of water; let it brew for 5-6 hours, drain the water). Spread a thin layer of a cloth with the prepared mixture, apply it to the sore spot and bandage it. Change the bandage after 1-2 days. Wounds heal quickly.
Make a mixture of spruce resin, wax, honey and sunflower oil (one part by weight of each component). Heat the mixture over heat and cool. Use externally for abrasions, abscesses, and ulcers.
Mix equal amounts of spruce resin, wax and butter. This ointment gives a good effect for boils.
In the forest, on a hike, one of the excellent remedies for wounds and cuts is fresh resin. Lubricate wounds, ulcers, cracks daily. Healing occurs quickly.
For skin diseases, gout, joint damage of rheumatic origin, take baths from spruce branches and buds.
To do this, prepare a decoction from the tops of young branches with buds (the ratio of plant materials and water is 1:5, boil for 30-40 minutes). The resulting decoction is added to the bath.
Fir cones are boiled with salt (100g of salt per 1 bucket of decoction). The resulting decoction is added to baths for joint pain of various origins and arthritis. Instead of cones, you can use freshly cut branches.
Tibetan medicine values pine needles as a means of treating burns and long-healing wounds, tree sap for diarrhea, and wood ash as an antidote.
For tuberculosis, it is good to use a vodka tincture of young shoots.
A combined preparation of spruce, fir and pine needles has a sedative effect and increases performance.
Pour winter trimmed pine needles (4 cups) with 3 cups of cooled boiled water, acidify with 2 teaspoons of diluted hydrochloric acid. Leave for 3 days in a dark place, strain. Drink 1/2 cup of vitamin infusion 2 times a day, sweeten to taste.
They make jam from pine needles with sugar and drink tea with it for shortness of breath.
Spruce resin-resin - 20g, ground onion (crushed) - 1 piece, vegetable oil, preferably olive - 50 g, powdered copper sulfate - 15 g. Everything is thoroughly ground and heated over fire, without bringing to a boil.
The ointment has a burning effect and actively treats abscesses, bruises and bone fractures.
If pus is flowing from the ear, it is recommended to pour spruce or pine juice into it.
Five tablespoons of spruce, pine or fir needles, pour 0.5 liters of water, boil for 5 minutes. and leave overnight in a warm place. This infusion promotes the removal of radionuclides. Give patients something to drink throughout the day instead of water. A day off, then treatment again. Alternate between drinking plain water and pine decoction possible for a month (instead of ordinary water it is better to use melt water).
Fill a pan with young shoots of spruce, add cold water, put on fire, bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes. Leave in a warm place overnight, strain in the morning. Store the drink in the refrigerator, but drink it warm, 0.5 cups several times a day.
Brew fir branches collected in September with boiling water: 1 tablespoon of chopped branches per 1 cup of boiling water. Drink a decoction instead of tea, 0.5 cups a day for uterine polyps.
According to Raphael, spruce is ruled by Saturn and is healing for those born under the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius.
The well-known common spruce belongs to a large family of conifers, namely the pine family. Translated from the ancient Slavic language, “spruce” means “resin”. Among the plants, the main place is occupied by spruce, which includes about 50 species. The culture is widespread throughout the planet and grows from Central Asia to South Africa And North America. It is important to consider the description of the common spruce in more detail.
Description of culture
Spruce is an evergreen crop, has an erect, slender trunk and a dense cone-shaped crown. The trunk of the crop is quite difficult to distinguish, since it is hidden under the branches.
Ate different ages covered a large number branches that grow to the very base. The bark of young crops is colored gray-brown or brown tint, quite smooth to the touch. Old spruce trunks are rough to the touch, the bark is very cracked in some places, and resin stains can be discerned. The needles of the common spruce needle continue to remain on the plant for ten years. When growing in the city, the lifespan of spruce is no more than five years, and environmental deterioration further shortens the life of the plant.
Conifer needles in a tetrahedral section are located singly along the perimeter of the entire spiral of the branch.
Features of plant growth
Norway spruce has a poor metabolism, so it develops very slowly in the first decade after planting. Afterwards, the process of cultural development begins to accelerate and stops only after 120 years. Uneven growth European spruce distinguishes it from Siberian.
Spruce is considered a long-liver that can grow freely in one place for three centuries. The culture is best formed on sandstones and loams.
This soil mixture helps the crop form branched rhizomes, which are attached deep underground and help the plant to stay stable on the surface. It is also important to remember that spruce especially likes to grow in damp areas. But in places where there is too much liquid in the soil, the crop develops small superficial roots. In strong winds, such a root system may not support the plant.
Spruce can even grow in swampy areas if the swamp is flowing. The root system of the crop is small compared to pine, this can explain the instability of the plant when exposed to strong winds and external factors. Another property of the plant is that its branches dry out, but do not die completely. Spruce forests always characterized by particular dampness and shading.
Despite the undemanding nature of growing conditions, spruce continues to be a delicate plant. It is allowed to grow it almost anywhere. The crop grows well under gently sloping trees, such as pine, ash and oak. Spruce continues to be more demanding in terms of growing conditions compared to pine. It is important to provide the crop with some amount of water, even minimal. It is for these reasons that it is very rare to see spruce and pine growing close to each other. Place one seed in a container with soil and deepen it a few centimeters. It is important to place the container in the refrigerator or in a cold place in the house (this will be stratification). This procedure is especially important, since in nature pine needle grains are exposed to low temperatures in winter.
Stratification helps speed up seed germination time. IN cold temperature seeds should be within three months, this time will help provide the culture with wintering. Planting material that has not undergone stratification may lie in the ground for a long time, but still not sprout. After some time, the container with the seeds inside is placed in a bright place and waits for the first sprouts.
For sowing, it is best to choose October or November, so that the presence of seeds in the ground occurs during winter season. In March, a container with seeds that was in the refrigerator or on the balcony will become the best material for germination of seedlings.