Cocklebur (Xanthium) is an annual herb belonging to the Asteraceae or Asteraceae family. According to various sources, there are approximately 25 varieties. Several species of cocklebur are grown as medicinal and are used for medicinal purposes.
In our latitude, predominantly common ones - ordinary or goiter, popularly called fear field or golden thorn.
Description of cocklebur herb
Cocklebur is a plant with a rough, erect, common stem, but there is also a branchy stem. The height of the stem reaches a height of up to 1.5 m with subsequent, complete, lobed or with serrated leaves and monoecious bent heads, tied between the base of the leaf and the stem, or on the upper part of the petiole in a brush, or a flower in the form of spikelets. In the upper part of the flower there are five-flowered baskets - these are male, and in the lower part, two-flowered baskets are female. The fruits look like a compressed elongated achene. The grass blooms from July to September, and the plant begins to bear fruit in September and to October.
Planting cocklebur in open ground
Cocklebur grass can grow on unenriched or impoverished soils, but if the soil is fertile and favorable, cocklebur will develop much faster. The cocklebur is very picky about light, so it prefers sunny places. Seeds are sown into the soil immediately, starting in spring, but they can be planted before winter. For winter planting, a bed is made in which a 5 cm depression is dug.
Before planting cocklebur in the spring, 30 days before planting, the seed is kept in the refrigerator in the vegetable section. The seeds are laid out in a container with wet sphagnum, it is important to check sometimes the moisture content of the plantings. No stratification of seeds planted before winter is required. After planting ugly seeds in the ground, they are well watered.
Important! Seeds planted before winter, before cold weather, are covered with organic mulch. However, spring sprouts will also be nice to shelter from the night cold. For this, arcs are made over the landings and covering material is already thrown over them.
Caring for cocklebur in the garden
When the first shoots appear, they must be thinned out, the rest can be transplanted, then each plant will have enough nutrition and lighting. Caring for cocklebur grass is quite simple - the main thing is not to forget to water, be sure to loosen the soil, weed from weeds and promptly inspect for the presence of parasites and diseases, and remove them.
As a top dressing for cocklebur, organic matter is suitable - solutions of manure or chicken droppings. You can also apply mineral fertilizing in the form of a solution introduced into the ground, while flowering has not yet come.
Cocklebur is almost never attacked by parasites and rarely gets sick.
Species and varieties of cocklebur
Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium)
The plant also has a second name - common cocklebur - is annual and has a rough, stiff and erect petiole, which can be both ordinary and branching and grows up to 1.5 m. The leaves of the grass are petiolate, heart-shaped, three to five-lobed with notches, growing up to 10 cm. The outer part of the leaf is green, the inner part has a lighter shade. The basket is collected in axillary spike-shaped inflorescences. The males are on top and the females are below. Compound fruits ripen from the baskets due to the hardening of the shell and its overgrowth.
Siberian cocklebur (Xanthium sibiricum)
A herbaceous annual with an erect and rough cuttings, which can be ordinary or branched, it is round at the bottom, and furrowed at the top and grows up to 60 cm.The leaves are heart-shaped or triangular-oval, practically whole or sharp-toothed, growing 9x10 cm and are located on petioles, length which are up to 11 cm. The outer and inner parts of the leaves are covered with needles or fluff. Women's baskets in the form of two thin flowers, which are hidden in a wrapper, covered with thorns from the outside.
Thorny cocklebur (Xanthium spinosum)
Also called cocklebur is needle - in its natural environment it grows like a weed near paths. The stem is rough, erect, ordinary or branched, finely grooved, which grows from 20 cm to 1 m. The lanceolate foliage of the stem has smooth edges, others are serrated at the edges, tripartite or notched-toothed, at the base of the foliage has triple thorns of enormous size.
Useful properties of cocklebur
Healing qualities
For medicinal purposes, the green part of the grass and seed material is collected when it is ripe. The root part is dug out in the fall.
This plant is enriched with iodine, it also has a sufficient amount of ascorbic acid, essential alkaloids for the body, glycosides useful for the heart and valuable pigments. Has diaphoretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and blood-purifying properties.
For reference! Cocklebur is used in the treatment of cancer. It is used in the treatment of malaria, prostatitis, musculoskeletal system, dysentery, skin, microsporia, scrofula, furunculosis, psoriasis, inflammation of the genitourinary system and nettle rash.
In the form of healing solutions, brews, oils, liquids, essences and infusions of this herb are used. Essences are advised for breast diseases, fibroids. The liquid normalizing the alimentary tract, in the form of a fresh cocklebur solution, is used for cramping sensations in the stomach, as well as for poor tone in the abdomen. Among other things, plant juice is advised for whooping cough and various diseases of the bronchi.
With the help of the oil, the plants treat skin diseases of the neurogenic-allergic type and various eczema. Alcohol infusions made from the plant are recommended for thyroid therapy, and navars from seeds and roots are used for cancer and tuberculosis of the throat and malfunctioning of the digestive system. When applied externally, the broth of the plant removes the burning sensation from skin diseases, bites of small insects and midges.
Contraindications
Applying drugs from cocklebur externally, there is a slight burning sensation. The herb is poisonous and therefore it is unacceptable to exceed the dose prescribed by the doctor.
You can not use cocklebur for pregnant women at different stages if stomach and duodenal ulcers have worsened. Before using it, you should consult a doctor, as some of the components in the herb can cause an allergic reaction. The substances obtained from the roots and seeds of the herb act as a firming agent and are not recommended for those with a predisposition to constipation.
