Syn.: zhitets, plover, rye, ponyry, dandur, root-grass, dog-grass, worm-grass, etc.
A perennial herbaceous plant with long creeping underground rhizomes. Used in medicine as medicinal plant, which has valuable medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, blood purifying, emollient, diaphoretic, lactic, diuretic, etc.
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Flower formula
Formula of wheatgrass flower: O2T3P2.In medicine
Creeping wheatgrass is not a pharmacopoeial plant in the domestic official medicine, however, is widely used in folk medicine and homeopathy. The grass and rhizomes of wheatgrass have medicinal value; they are used as a diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant and mild laxative. Sometimes in medical practice, wheatgrass rhizome is used as a medicinal agent that regulates salt metabolism, as well as an enveloping, laxative and blood purifying agent.
Contraindications and side effects
In cosmetology
Wheatgrass is used for allergic skin diseases as an anti-inflammatory agent for lichen planus, as an anti-inflammatory and antipruritic agent for pyoderma, including furunculosis, acne, viral diseases skin, hyperkeratosis, scleroderma and baldness. For furunculosis positive effect has a strong decoction of wheatgrass rhizome.
In other areas
In addition to the medicinal effect, the rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass have great nutritional value. In the years of famine they were dried, ground and baked into quite decent quality bread. Currently, wheatgrass is used in cooking, for example, salads, side dishes for meat, fish and vegetable dishes, and soups are prepared from fresh rhizomes. Dried rhizomes are suitable for producing flour; they are used to cook porridge, jelly, beer, bake bread, and are also used as a coffee substitute.
The rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass, cleared from the ground, are used as feed for livestock, rabbits, and poultry. As a medicinal plant, wheatgrass is eaten by cats and dogs, especially early spring- this is their favorite greenery. Creeping wheatgrass is a valuable hay and pasture plant; when cultivated it can produce a hay yield of up to 50-60 c/ha.
Some species (elongated wheatgrass, medium wheatgrass, and other species) are valued in breeding as plants widely used for producing frost- and cold-resistant wheat-wheatgrass hybrids that produce good quality grain.
Classification
Creeping wheatgrass (lat. Elytrigia repens) is the most famous species of the genus Wheatgrass of the family Poaceae, or Gramineae. The genus includes about 30 species of perennial grasses, common in extratropical regions. There are approximately 20 species in Russia, some of them (feather grass) are endemic to the steppes of the European part and Ciscaucasia and are listed in the Red Books of the USSR.
Botanical description
Creeping wheatgrass is a perennial glabrous or pubescent herbaceous plant 60-120 cm in height with a long, creeping, branched underground rhizome, forming numerous aboveground single daughter shoots. Root system fibrous, formed by numerous thin adventitious roots. The stems are smooth, glabrous or pubescent, and are enclosed in leaf sheaths for most of their length. The leaves are vaginal, linear, 5-8 mm wide, green or grayish, clearly ribbed on top, sharply rough, at the base of the blade with small but clearly visible ears. The sheaths are long, at the place of their transition into the leaf blade there is a short outgrowth - the tongue. The flowers are small, green, inconspicuous, collected in spikelets of 4-7 pieces, which in turn form long inflorescences - a complex spike. At the base of the spikelets (1-2 cm long) there are two smooth, pointed, short-awned spikelet scales with 5-7 veins. Flowers with a strongly reduced perianth, enclosed in floral scales. There are 3 stamens, with rather large swaying anthers. Pistil with an upper single-locular ovary and two sessile stigmas. Creeping wheatgrass flower formula: O2T3P 2 . The fruit is a grain. It blooms in June-July, bears fruit in August-September.
Spreading
Creeping wheatgrass is distributed almost everywhere, found throughout European Russia. A widespread and common plant of meadow communities, bare and overgrown substrates and banks of water bodies, as well as fields (a noxious weed), fallow lands, vegetable gardens, bush thickets, wastelands and roadsides. Prefers rich and well-aerated soils.
Thanks to its long rhizomes, it is able to quickly cover large areas, which is why wheatgrass is classified as a difficult-to-eradicate field weed. Per 1 hectare there can be up to 250 million wheatgrass buds, which germinate very quickly when mechanical damage, finding yourself at shallow depths or in loose soil.
Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.
Procurement of raw materials
Wheatgrass rhizomes are best harvested during autumn or spring plowing, as they contain maximum quantity active biologically active substances and are carried to the soil surface in large quantities. Raw materials harvested early in the spring, before the stems grow, are of great value. Having dug up the rhizomes, they are shaken off the ground and cleaned of remnants of stems and leaves. If it is expected natural drying(in the sun), the rhizomes are not washed, but only shaken off the ground. Washing is advisable if artificial drying is planned (in dryers at a temperature of 50-55°C). After drying, the rhizomes are piled up and ground by hand until small roots break off and the remains of soil and leaves fall off. The rhizomes are then weeded out or selected. It is recommended to store raw materials (rhizomes) whole in well-closed glass jars. The shelf life of raw materials is 2-3 years.
Raw materials must be treated with caution, as they are easily damaged by moths, beetles, weevils and other barn pests.
Chemical composition
The rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass contain carbohydrates: triticin, mannitol (2.5-3%), levulose (3-4%); agroperine, glucovalin, as well as salts of malic acid, protein and mucous substances, saponins, pectins, fatty and essential oil, carotene, ascorbic acid, mineral salts. Wheatgrass rhizome contains the most starch (up to 40%).
Pharmacological properties
Creeping wheatgrass root and preparations made on its basis (tinctures, decoctions, freshly squeezed juice) are recommended for use for the prevention and treatment of cholelithiasis and urolithiasis, and also for use as a diuretic, for the treatment of diseases of the biliary and urinary tract: cystitis, nephritis, urethritis, urinary incontinence, chronic infections bladder).
Wheatgrass root has enveloping and mild laxative properties; it is effectively used for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the liver, spleen and gastrointestinal tract (colitis, enteritis, cholecystitis, hepatitis, gastritis, gastric catarrh, etc.). Wheatgrass also has an expectorant effect; taking decoctions and infusions from wheatgrass roots is effective for diseases of the lungs, bronchi and various inflammations of the upper respiratory tract, accompanied by sputum production. The roots and rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass have healing and anti-inflammatory properties, they are used to combat skin diseases - acne, furunculosis, eczema, trophic ulcers, various types dermatitis.
Creeping wheatgrass helps strengthen the walls of blood vessels, it cleanses the blood and reduces cholesterol levels, normalizes blood pressure, improves lipid metabolism and metabolism.
Use in folk medicine
In folk medicine, wheatgrass rhizome is used much more widely than in official medicine. In folk medicine, wheatgrass rhizomes are used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, enveloping, mild laxative and metabolism-improving agent. In the form of decoctions, wheatgrass rhizomes are drunk for diseases of the liver, lungs, kidneys, urinary incontinence, urethritis and cystitis, taken for chest pain, fever, jaundice, irregular periods, aches. For furunculosis, childhood diathesis and eczema, children are bathed in a bath with the addition of wheatgrass rhizome juice and given to drink, especially with rickets. Juice fresh leaves Wheatgrass is used to treat colds, ARVI, bronchitis, cholelithiasis and urolithiasis, pneumonia. Healing baths with an infusion of wheatgrass herb are recommended for skin diseases (lichen planus and blistering dermatitis), rashes, scrofula and hemorrhoids, and for chronic constipation, enemas are recommended; the decoction can also be taken orally. A decoction of dried wheatgrass rhizomes is used as an anti-inflammatory agent for rheumatism, inflammation of the bladder, gout, jaundice and dropsy. Creeping wheatgrass – good remedy for diseases with disorders, metabolic arthritis and osteochondrosis. Preparations of creeping wheatgrass quickly cure furunculosis, help with juvenile acne and other skin diseases. Wheatgrass is included in the collection for compresses for dry, delicate skin with reduced resistance and pyoderma (for oral administration). Together with stinging nettle, wheatgrass is used to treat premature graying. For sweaty feet unpleasant smell Wheatgrass is applied to them overnight.
Wheatgrass is eaten by cats and dogs; it has an anthelmintic effect.
Historical background
The generic name of the plant comes from the Greek. "elytron" - scales. Old Latin name of the plant (Agropiron repens). It has a number of popular names: zhitets, ryan, ryan, ponyr, dandur, root - grass, dog grass, worm - grass, etc.
Literature
1. Atlas of medicinal plants of the USSR / Ch. ed. N.V. Tsitsin. M.: Medgiz, 1962. P. 87-89.
- Blinova K. F. et al. Botanical-pharmacognostic dictionary: Reference. allowance / Ed. K. F. Blinova, G. P. Yakovleva. M.: Higher. school, 1990. P. 229.
- Gubanov, I. A. et al. 142. Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski – Creeping wheatgrass // Illustrated plant guide Central Russia. In 3 vols. M.: Scientific T. ed. KMK, Institute of Technology. research, 2002. T. 1. Ferns, horsetails, mosses, gymnosperms, angiosperms (monocots). P. 236.
- Zamyatina N.G. Medicinal plants. Encyclopedia of Russian nature. M. 1998. 485 p.
- Peshkova G.I., Shreter A.I. Plants in home cosmetics and dermatology. M. Ed. House of SMEs, 2001. 680 p.
Common names: root-grass, dog-grass, worm-grass, wheatgrass, dog's tooth, zhitets, ponyr, plover, zhitvets, ortanets, dandur.
Wheatgrass (lat. Elytrígia) is a perennial herbaceous plant; a genus of the Cereals family, consisting of approximately 100 species. Wheatgrass blooms in May-June, bears fruit in July-September. This plant is found throughout Europe and Asia, avoiding only deserts and dark forests, although it may well grow in forest clearings and edges, but mostly wheatgrass populates meadows, fields, fallow lands, and gardens. Its modern Latin name is Elytrigia repens.
In medicine, wheatgrass is used for metabolic disorders, as a diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant and laxative, regulating salt metabolism.
The main area of application of wheatgrass is blood cleansing, when toxins are removed from the body with increased outflow of water, which primarily affects the reduction of skin rashes. Fatigue and weakness are relieved. Moreover, all components act together, both vitamins and minerals, saponins and related compounds.
Although scientific medicine has a cool attitude towards wheatgrass, in Switzerland, for example, it is widely used as a medicinal plant. Due to the presence of silicic acid, it is used for bronchial diseases, metabolic problems, rheumatism and gout.
The German National Health Service indicates the following uses of wheatgrass rhizomes: to increase urination during inflammatory processes in the urinary tract; as a supplement in the treatment of upper respiratory tract catarrh.
The most important indications for the use of wheatgrass rhizomes in folk medicine are anemia, rickets, lung diseases, urinary retention, liver and gall bladder diseases, inflammation of the stomach and intestines, rheumatism and gout, skin rashes and complaints associated with menstruation. Tea with wheatgrass and bearberry helps against acne.
In Russia the most known species is creeping wheatgrass, which covers gardens, vacant lots, vegetable gardens, forest edges, fields, meadows, etc.
Wheatgrass as a food plant has more than once helped people out in the most difficult times. difficult times. Wheatgrass rhizome is used for food. It is ground to produce flour, which is not inferior in nutritional value to wheat, and they bake bread, flat cakes, gingerbread cookies and other flour products. From dried rhizomes you can prepare cereals for porridges, seasonings, casseroles, minced meats and fillings, which will have a pleasant taste and aroma. Soups are made from fresh roots, salads and side dishes are prepared for fish, vegetables and meat dishes. You can make a coffee drink from the roasted rhizomes.
Creeping wheatgrass is a well-known and widespread weed in vegetable gardens. All weeds have incredible vitality and fertility. Wheatgrass has a long rhizome, which, if cut into pieces where there is at least one living bud, instantly takes root and begins to form a new independent plant. Hence its popular names - zhitets, zhitvets, ortanets. This is literally “fire” for fields and vegetable gardens, the fight against which is extremely difficult and sometimes unsuccessful.
Probably, such a vitality of the plant, even a weed, could not but affect its ability to deal not only with the problems of the near, but also the distant circle, including problems of human health.
Wheatgrass seems to be the “veins” of Mother Earth, who poured her miraculous powers into it for the healing and life of her children. Pets, cats and dogs, enjoy eating the young grass of creeping wheatgrass in early spring. This way they replenish their winter-starved blood with fresh vitamins and biologically active substances, of which wheatgrass contains a lot.
The medicinal raw materials of wheatgrass are rhizomes, which are harvested in the fall, immediately after the first frost, or in early spring.
They are washed thoroughly in cold water, cleaned of small roots, remnants of stems and leaves, dried in the shade in the air or in a well-ventilated area, laid out on paper or burlap. Store in canvas bags or wooden containers for up to 2 years.
It is recommended to dry wheatgrass raw materials at 60 degrees in an oven or special dryers, periodically stirring and turning the extract. Ready rhizomes should break with a bang without becoming deformed. Shelf life – no more than 3 years.
The rhizome of creeping wheatgrass contains mineral salts (potassium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc), silicic acid, organic acids, vitamins A, B, essential oil, which contains agropyrene carbon; mucous substances, polysaccharide substance tricitin, inulin, inositol, fructose, levulose, saponin, vanillin, dextrose, gum, quartz, levulose, mannitol, lactic acid, nitrogen-containing rubber-like substance, tannin.
Wheatgrass is valuable because it cleanses the body of radiation. For this reason alone, this plant has no price. After the Chernobyl disaster there was a real pursuit of the Chinese green tea. It is certainly useful, there is no doubt about it, the tannins included in its chemical composition really “drive out” strontium. But it turns out that there is enough tannin in the wheatgrass growing under our feet. So, in pursuit of someone else’s, we trample on our own.
The real “scourge of man” is osteochondrosis. This disease is in second place after diseases cardiovascular system. It is impossible to get rid of it completely, but it is possible to stop its development. And precisely this malicious weed. It perfectly removes salts from the body. Almost indispensable for joint problems, arthritis, radiculitis, rheumatism and gout.
Wheatgrass is good for healing the gastrointestinal tract. A decoction of the roots cleanses gallbladder and kidneys from stones and sand. It is also used for inflammation of the bile ducts, liver, bladder and urinary tubules. Wheatgrass heals the kidneys and stimulates filtration in them.
A decoction of the root is also very effective for swelling of any origin.
Wheatgrass is a good blood purifier. Its use is indicated for body rashes and allergies. It is included in formulations for eczema, psoriasis, boils and any other human scab.
Wheatgrass roots also have expectorant properties.
Silicon compounds found in the plant have a beneficial effect on all external and internal organs. Blood vessels are strengthened and the elasticity of capillary walls increases. Therefore, wheatgrass preparations are highly recommended for older people.
The white root helps against diabetes.
If, God forbid, you are assigned large number antibiotics, then after completing treatment, be sure to take a healing course with wheatgrass, as it neutralizes chemical compounds, removes excess antibiotics, practically re-regulates the functioning of the entire body.
Wheatgrass perfectly relieves fatigue, restores vigor, excites, stimulates the activity of the heart, slightly increases blood pressure, and relieves headaches. So, our cats and dogs are not stupid...
Wheatgrass perfectly regulates metabolism in the body.
There are no CONTRAINDICATIONS to the use of creeping wheatgrass. However, use should be discontinued if diarrhea occurs or depression that affects performance develops.
DEcoction of rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass
Pour 1 tablespoon of crushed raw materials into 1 glass hot water, boil for 5-10 minutes, cool, strain and squeeze. Take 1 glass 3 times a day before meals. The decoction can be flavored with blackcurrant twigs or leaves.
For hemorrhoids, chronic inflammation of the large intestine, inflammation of the bladder and urinary tract, wheatgrass decoction is prescribed at night in the form of a microenema with a volume of 30-60 ml.
Instead of decoction, you can use fresh juice from the above-ground part of the plant and roots.
Stems with root pieces are washed in running water, scald, pass through a meat grinder, dilute with water in a 1:1 ratio, squeeze through a thick cloth and boil for 3 minutes. Take 1-2 tablespoons 3 times a day before meals. Store in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days.
BATH
100 g of wheatgrass and burdock rhizomes are placed in a large enamel pan or bucket, add 5 liters of hot water and boil for 10 minutes. The resulting broth is poured into a bath of water. It is recommended to take this bath for various skin diseases at least once a week. The duration of the procedure is 30 minutes, the water temperature is 36-37 C. It is recommended to combine baths with taking the decoction orally.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Fresh wheatgrass rhizomes are used to prepare soups, salads, and side dishes for fatty, meat, fish, and vegetable dishes.
This plant received the name “wheat grass” from the very ancient root “pyro”, which meant bread or rye. And creeping wheatgrass, indeed, can justify its name - it can be used as a substitute for bread, having great value in hungry years. Sometimes for baking bread, the dough was made from 2/3 rye flour and 1/3 wheatgrass root flour. To make wheatgrass root flour, the roots were boiled, dried, chopped and ground or pounded into flour.
Porridges and jelly are also made from this flour; it is added to wheat and rye flour when baking flatbreads and pancakes. Roasted rhizomes make good surrogate coffee. published
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Wheatgrass has more than a dozen species, but everyone knows the creeping grass, or, as it is called, dog grass. Cats and dogs really love to chew it, especially when the young leaves have just appeared. And for livestock, wheatgrass is the best food. But a person constantly struggles with this, considering it harmful.
The Poa family is represented by a huge number of plants, from cereals and fodder cereals to weeds, which include wheatgrass, although it is included in the nutrition of domestic animals.
Features of the grass structure:
- By appearance the grass is distinguished by narrow plates of leaves of all shades of green, in some species with a slightly bluish bloom.
- Parallel veins are laid along the leaf; the stem of the cereal looks like a hollow straw, rising from forty to one hundred centimeters in height.
- The root system is fibrous in appearance, grows to a depth of 15 centimeters, and the length can reach hundreds of kilometers on one hectare with tens of millions of buds located on the rhizomes.
- IN summer period the panicle of the plant is covered with inconspicuous pale flowers, which from mid-summer to September turn into mature grains covered with a film.
- In terms of fertility, the grass surpasses many of its relatives: up to ten thousand fruits can be collected from one spikelet.
The main feature of wheatgrass is its vitality: it is not afraid of cold, drought, and is hardy to the extreme. Falling even into unfavorable soil, its seeds remain viable for up to ten years, waiting good conditions for growth. Already at low air temperatures, about zero degrees, the weed begins to germinate, and when the temperature is above thirty, it develops with amazing speed.
The plant can be found everywhere, even in the northern hemisphere: on the sides of dusty roads and in well-kept gardens, in forest thickets and wastelands.
He loves well-moistened, humus-rich soils. These include swampy soil or loose sandy soil. In the old days, the plant was called the creeping fire of the fields, because farmers could not cope with the weeds, which prevented them from obtaining rich harvests of wheat and rye, constantly multiplying and destroying the crops.
The main condition for unlimited growth of wheatgrass is loose, moist soil. And if it rains from April to July, then the rhizomes of the plant begin to multiply wildly and become juicy and white. Each part of the root system grows close to the ground for some time, spreads, and then, bending upward, gives life to new wheatgrass. Even if you break the rhizome of a weed with a shovel when digging, you cannot hope that it will die. New grass begins to grow from the buds on the adventitious roots.
Wheatgrass resistance to diseases, frost, drought and others stressful situations allowed it to be crossed with wheat, a distant relative of the plant.
This is how new varieties of cereal appeared, which were successfully tested on virgin lands in the arid regions of Kazakhstan. The herbs are strengthened by the rush species sandy soils, dunes in the Baltic republics.
One can say about creeping wheatgrass that it loves to fill all the lands, absorbing large amounts of minerals necessary for nutrition, releasing elements into the soil that do not give life to cultivated species flora. But after five years of existence in one place, the wheatgrass itself leads to self-poisoning with phenols, and it leaves it, opening up new areas of growth.
From the point of view of botanists, this weed plant is one of the most amazing, adapted to life in any conditions, always emerging victorious in a battle with humans.
Recently, many farmers have been sowing wheatgrass in their fields as an excellent high-quality feed or as a medicinal raw material. And although in wildlife Wheatgrass grows without much hassle, but to breed it you need patience:
- Growing grass seeds begins with preparing them and the soil. The seed material is soaked overnight in cold water, and then. Although the last action can be eliminated, and then the seeds are distributed over the area so that they do not come into contact with each other. And sprinkle them with a thin layer of earth on top, then stretch the film over the plantings. There is no need to do this when pre-germinating seeds. Wheatgrass is sown until mid-May.
- Vegetative propagation is more acceptable for wheatgrass. Having separated the adventitious root with the bud-nodule, it is planted in the ground at a shallow depth. By digging up an area in advance where grass is already growing, you can give an impetus to its active reproduction. Then the plant even forgets to bloom and produce seeds. It doesn’t matter to her: it reproduces beautifully by rhizomes, capturing larger and larger areas.
Wheatgrass prefers well-lit areas with loose soil. By compacting the soil or deepening the grass roots, you can reduce its germination and productivity.
Those who want to get into the business of growing feed grains for homesteads and farms can benefit with almost no effort. The profitability of such plantings is great.
It seems that such a weed does not require any care, but this is not so. Yes, it is not too expensive, like, for example, for wheat. But there are some features of caring for bluish wheatgrass:
- Although forage grass is undemanding to the climate and makes good use of the moisture of the upper layers of the soil, it still requires watering during severe droughts.
- Depending on the composition of the soil, phosphorus is added if this element is deficient, or nitrogen is added. The latter are applied in mid-autumn so that rain and snow precipitation dissolves them well and deepens them into the soil by 20 centimeters. Spring feeding do not give results due to dry soil.
Wheatgrass in steppe regions is used on pastures during the summer when the grass is up to twenty centimeters high. The first time it is given to livestock is in May, and then as the grass grows.
From proper care wheatgrass depends on the amount of pet food.
To prepare large reserves of water in the soil in winter, snow barriers are installed in wheatgrass fields.
To increase productivity, the old grass stand is destroyed by plowing, giving way to new growth.
Wheatgrass contains many useful substances, it is rich in fatty oils, vitamins - carotene, ascorbic acid - fructose, malic, silicic acid, glycides, minerals. In ancient times, our ancestors immediately appreciated the benefits of grass leaves and its rhizomes. The roots, crushed into flour, were used to bake cakes and bread; they were used to make jelly, beer, and surrogate coffee; the herb was added to salads and soups.
And now traditional healers use creeping wheatgrass in many medicinal recipes:
- A decoction of the rhizome is used in the treatment of cystitis, nephritis, and enuresis. They cure inflammatory processes in the stomach, intestines, and pathologies of the bronchopulmonary system. It is effective for external and internal use for eczema, furunculosis, diathesis, scrofula, and rickets. A healing decoction is prepared like this: the juice squeezed from fresh roots is half diluted with water and boiled for several minutes. Take half a glass orally before meals three times a day. According to another recipe, crushed roots (two tablespoons) are poured with boiling water in the amount of two glasses, kept on low heat for several minutes.
- Uterine bleeding and heavy menstruation can be stopped with the help of a stronger infusion of the herb, for which the portion of raw materials is doubled. It also helps with the formation of hemorrhoids and constipation.
- An infusion of the plant is used as compresses, lotions, and baths to treat skin problems, colds, coughs, and hemorrhoids. The drink is prepared simply: first, pour two tablespoons of the powder into half a liter of cold water and leave for a day. After straining, pour boiled water in the same amount, leaving for an hour. Both infusions, cold and hot, are combined and consumed before meals, one hundred milliliters three times throughout the day.
- Fresh juice is used to treat arthritis, osteochondrosis, rheumatism, pneumonia, and bronchitis. It is taken for kidney stones and gall bladder stones.
- If a person wants to lose weight, then there is no better product for this than wheatgrass. It will increase sweating, cleanse the body of waste and toxins, and improve metabolic processes in tissues.
Traditional healers assure that there is no disease that cannot be cured with creeping wheatgrass in the absence of contraindications to its use.
The raw materials for the medicine are prepared in autumn or spring, by digging it up, washing it and drying it. Dry the rhizomes in a ventilated area until tender, and then grind them into powder with your hands. The medicine is stored in glass jars and used as directed for three years.
More information can be found in the video:
Probably one of the most famous weeds that is incredibly difficult to control is creeping wheatgrass. At the same time, it not only causes harm to people, but also brings benefits, since it is used in folk medicine, and some supporters of organic nutrition - even in cooking.
Description of the weed
Creeping wheatgrass, described below, belongs to the perennial herbaceous plants of the Poaceae family. It received this name due to its numerous roots, which grow in different directions, spreading to ever new areas of the earth. What is wheatgrass? Photos and descriptions of this weed are presented in our article, however, it is familiar to every gardener. Wheatgrass grows up to 50-120 cm in height. Its gnarled, creeping rhizome can reach several meters in length. It is capable of penetrating into loose soil to a depth of 1 m. Most often, its roots are located in the top layer of soil (5-6 cm from the surface). They almost never penetrate to a depth of more than 15-20 cm.
The elongated leaves are 5-10 mm wide. Thin veins are clearly visible on them. This polymorphic plant can be either green or bluish, glabrous or hairy. On long stems, bare spikelets 10-15 cm long with 4-7 flowers are formed. They have lanceolate scales. Creeping wheatgrass blooms in June-July. The weed seeds ripen in late July and early September. This plant is sensitive to drought. During humid periods it grows literally before our eyes.
Reproduction methods
This monocotyledonous weed reproduces vegetatively (via rhizomes) and sexually (by seeds). Both of these methods of spreading wheatgrass are very effective. In large areas, it reproduces using rhizomes that spread many meters in different directions. On one hectare of wheatgrass-infested soil there are about 250 million rhizome buds. All of them can grow into full-fledged plants. In this case, any piece of roots with a bud can quickly regenerate an entire weed.
Creeping wheatgrass is cross-pollinated. Thanks to this feature, it can form new genotypes that have increased resistance to unfavorable conditions. Caryopsis seeds, if necessary, enter the dormant stage. Because of this, they can maintain their viability for 10-12 years, germinating with the onset of favorable conditions. The fertility of this weed is extremely high. Yes, one thing large plant can produce up to 9-10 thousand grains. Wheatgrass is self-sterile.
Description of grain seeds
The seeds of creeping wheatgrass have a spindle-shaped, slightly oval shape. Their length is 6-10 mm and their thickness is about 1.25 mm. The grains are covered with films. Their top is obliquely truncated, slightly rounded, and the base is slightly thickened. The color of the seeds is grayish-green with a yellowish tint. Their surface is hard, covered with small grooves. Spine-like points up to 8 mm in length extend from their center. The mass of a thousand seeds is only 3-4 g. The grain, cleared of films, has an elongated shape. Its rounded tip is covered with small short hairs. The seed is 4-5 mm long and about 1 mm thick. The surface of the seeds is dotted with small and shallow wrinkles. The color of naked seeds is yellow-brown.
Creeping wheatgrass grains germinate with the onset of warm weather in March-May. The optimal temperature for this is only +2...+4 °C. This weed develops most quickly at +20...+30 °C. With the appearance of 4-6 leaves, it begins to form a powerful rhizome, which makes it more stable.
Distribution area
The weed is widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in temperate climates. Creeping wheatgrass intensively spreads to fertile soils, characterized by a high nitrogen content. In the spring, the weedy soil is completely covered with the green leaves of the seedlings of this weed. Creeping wheatgrass is common in coastal meadows, sands, clearings, in the steppe, along roadsides, and in weedy places. He is a frequent visitor to summer cottages, vegetable gardens and fields. This weed prefers soils rich in humus, loose sandy and marshy soils. He selects sufficiently moist areas. With significant soil compaction, creeping wheatgrass falls out of the community. When plowing land with a plow, an environment favorable for the development of this weed is created.
Harmfulness of the weed
Creeping wheatgrass, which people constantly fight against, is distinguished by its high harmfulness. Thus, agronomists have calculated that when winter wheat appears in crops, there will be only 8-10 such plants per 1 square meter its yield decreases by about 5 centners per hectare. In addition, the creeping wheatgrass weed negatively affects the soil itself. It not only depletes it by absorbing nutrients, but also greatly dries out the fertile soil. Thus, to form 100 kg of seeds per hectare of land, wheatgrass uses 3 times more water than winter wheat. To form 6 tons of underground and aboveground mass of this weed per hectare, it absorbs up to 69 kg of potassium, 46 kg of nitrogen and 32 kg of phosphorus from the soil.
Controlling wheatgrass with herbicides
One of the most dangerous weeds for agricultural land is creeping wheatgrass. How to get rid of it using modern means? In recent years, various anti-cereal herbicides have been used to control this weed. Some of the most effective are drugs that contain the chemical substance clethodim. For 90-95% of the death of creeping wheatgrass with an infestation of 68 plants per square meter, only 1 liter of such herbicides per 1 hectare of land is needed.
Other chemicals have lower effectiveness. Thus, when using herbicides based on sethoxydim, 3 liters of the drug were required to destroy 73% of weeds on 1 hectare. There are substances that are used to treat fields in the spring. To control creeping wheatgrass in cereal crops, the herbicides “Monitor” and “Glyphosphate” are often used. The latter can be applied to the fields after harvesting. Post-emergence herbicides belonging to the group of sulfuronic acids, when used together with plant growth stimulants, significantly increase their effectiveness.
Roundup shows excellent results in the fight against wheatgrass. Only during the application of this herbicide should the recommended precautions be observed. It is sprayed onto the surface of leaves and shoots. This drug is absorbed by the plant after 4-6 hours and spreads to all its parts, including the roots. Roundup interferes with the process of amino acid synthesis, which leads to the death of wheatgrass, which is expressed in yellowing and drying of the entire weed. After this, it can be easily removed from the soil. Roundup does not affect other plants (not cereals) and does not affect the soil, which often leads to the germination of wheatgrass seeds in the future. In the ground it loses its activity and quickly decomposes.
For mass control of this weed, the herbicide “Hurricane” is also used. Only this drug should be used in areas where there are no plans to grow cereal crops in the near future.
Traditional methods of weed control
What to do if creeping wheatgrass appears on your summer cottage? How to get rid of weeds without using any chemicals? Creeping wheatgrass, control measures for which include weeding, digging, and mowing, is characterized by increased “survivability.” The slightest piece of rhizome with a bud remaining in the ground will give rise to the growth of a new weed. Moreover, this plant will appear again in a couple of weeks.
This weed can appear in plantings of any crop, but it especially often grows in summer cottages in potato plantings. To combat it, careful weeding and hilling are most often used. In this case, you should select the rhizomes from the soil extremely carefully, trying to remove any pieces of them as much as possible. This way you can significantly weaken this weed.
Alternation cultivated plants adversely affects creeping wheatgrass. Broad-leaved plants that shade the soil have a particularly harmful effect on it. These include: buckwheat, hemp, lentils, peas, beans, beans, sunflower. To reduce the number of weeds, agronomists use three-field crop rotation.
Very effective method To combat creeping wheatgrass, it is considered to be its deep embedding into the soil when digging or plowing the area. However, this plant does not germinate well. When cultivating the soil by other methods, the rhizomes removed from it are sent to a place where they can quickly dry out and lose their ability to regenerate.
When fighting this weed, one should not forget that its seeds are highly resistant to adverse conditions. The main mistake of novice gardeners is that they often leave uprooted plants with almost ripe ears right on the ground. This weed is capable of reproducing even from those seeds that ripen directly on torn stems already in the garden bed or in compost heap. That is why it is better to remove creeping wheatgrass to those parts of the site from where it cannot enter the garden again. You can also burn dried weeds.
There is also a method of depleting such plants with oppressive crops (most often sown grasses). But this method of combating wheatgrass is more suitable for gardens, not vegetable gardens. Also often used autumn sowing oats or wheat in a place free from vegetable crops. When the grains reach a height of 15-20 cm, the area is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet, carefully turning over the soil layer. Some gardeners re-sow such areas with oats, and then dig up the soil again. Thus, you can quickly get rid of the most overgrown areas of land.
Wheatgrass in folk medicine
Despite its harmfulness to the soil and crops, this weed can also be beneficial to humans. The juice, steams, infusions and decoctions of this herb are used as medicine. Wheatgrass, whose medicinal properties have long been confirmed by traditional medicine, has been used as a medicine for centuries. Most often, dried rhizomes of this weed are used. They are used as a blood purifier and to treat diseases of the urinary organs and respiratory tract. This plant has expectorant, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and tonic properties. Creeping wheatgrass, the properties of which are determined by its chemical composition, used as an enveloping, hemostatic and mild laxative. Its rhizomes contain the following useful substances: saponins, organic acids, vitamin C, carotene, mucus, essential oils, pectins, vegetable proteins, polysaccharides. They contain micro- and macroelements such as iron, calcium, sodium.
Preparations prepared from the roots of wheatgrass are used for urolithiasis and cholelithiasis, inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (enteritis, gastritis, colitis). They help with rheumatism, gout, colds, bronchitis and tracheitis. Preparations from the rhizomes of this weed perfectly tone the skin and help normalize metabolism. Externally, wheatgrass infusion is used for bathing and as a lotion for furunculosis and other skin diseases. It is used as an enema for hemorrhoids, chronic constipation and intestinal inflammation. Small children with diathesis are bathed in a decoction of this herb.
How is creeping wheatgrass prepared? Photos, descriptions of various specimens of this plant were presented in this material. It must be said that its types differ somewhat, since the plant is polymorphic, but they are all equally valuable as medicinal raw materials. Its rhizomes are harvested in spring and autumn. You can also use weeds removed from the garden. The dug up rhizomes are shaken off the ground and washed with running water. cold water. The raw materials prepared in this way are placed in the sun in windy weather. After the rhizomes have dried a little, they are dried in a dryer or in a shaded place. Such medicinal raw materials are stored for no more than 2 years in linen bags or wooden boxes.
Wheatgrass as a fodder grass
This weed is an excellent food source for all types of livestock and animals. It is well eaten on pastures from the beginning of the growing season to the heading period. Due to its nutritional value, wheatgrass has a beneficial effect on weight gain in domestic animals and livestock. Dried wheatgrass is valued as the most nutritious hay. It is much better than virgin grass. It contains more nitrogen (1.53%) than timothy or ryegrass. Wheatgrass with tall stems is especially valued.
The rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass are used as valuable succulent feed for horses. Thanks to nutrients, contained in this cereal weed, their fur becomes shiny and smooth, and the animals themselves become more resilient.
Hybrids of weeds and grain crops
Over the years Soviet breeders carried out breeding work aimed at creating a hybrid of wheatgrass with cereal crops. The plants obtained from crossing with wheat had to combine grain value and long-term weed life. All these experiments faded into oblivion over time. But, despite this, Soviet scientists still managed to create wheatgrass-wheat and wheatgrass-rye hybrids that have unique properties: frost resistance, resistance to cereal diseases, and drought resistance. It is quite possible that these experiments will be resumed over time.
Creeping wheatgrass(Agropyrum repens) is one of the most common weeds and headache many gardeners: not only does it deplete the soil, it is also almost impossible to get rid of it.
Ruthlessly removing wheatgrass from the site, many gardeners do not realize that kilograms of torn grass can fundamentally improve their health.
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After all, it’s not for nothing that cats and dogs love to chew these long, hard leaves - animals intuitively feel their natural power, which it’s simply a sin not for people to use to maintain and restore their health.
Creeping wheatgrass
Wheatgrass reproduces by seeds and division of roots. This is a very tenacious plant; the substances it contains allow seeds to germinate at just 2 degrees Celsius, while young shoots are not afraid of either drought or frost. For this reason, wheatgrass is popularly called “zhitets”, “ponyry”, “worm-grass”.
In difficult lean years, our ancestors used the tenacious weed for food purposes. Famous herbalist, 90-year-old Elena Zaitseva says: “When people plowed their gardens in early spring, we collected weed roots throughout the village, mainly wheatgrass.
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We had 30 bags of roots in our attic. We wash them, dry them, and grind them into flour. Mom baked bread from this flour - it is tastier and more nutritious than wheat. There was a terrible famine during the war, but we survived thanks to the roots of the weeds.
Mom said that God gives a person the grass that he needs. If you have a plot of land, look at what kind of “weed” grass grows the most - this will be your medicine.”
Wheatgrass contains a long list of valuable substances: carotene, ascorbic acid, malic acid, proteins, carbohydrates, essential oil and, which is very valuable, silicon, which helps retain calcium in the body.
Indications for the use of creeping wheatgrass
Properties of wheatgrass make it valuable medicine for patients with various joint, skin, and colds.
They also make it possible to use zhitets for the prevention of one of the most common diseases of our century - osteoporosis (its symptoms appear in 80% of women over the age of 50).
What cures wheatgrass
- Skin diseases
Basics medicinal property wheatgrass is its ability to “cleanse” the blood and the body as a whole from toxins, waste and other “pollutants”. The use of decoctions and tinctures of the plant allows you to get rid of skin diseases from the inside. - Upper respiratory tract diseases
The anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties of wheatgrass allow it to be used to treat colds, bronchitis, tracheitis, and pneumonia. - Liver diseases
Wheatgrass perfectly cleanses the blood, so it is useful for hepatitis, diseases of the biliary tract and alleviates the condition of the patient with cirrhosis. - Digestive tract diseases
For gastritis, colitis, enteritis and stomach ulcers, wheatgrass infusion envelops the damaged mucosa, reduces inflammation and promotes faster tissue regeneration. - Diseases of the cardiovascular system
For angina pectoris, arrhythmia and hypertension, the use of wheatgrass helps reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood and strengthen the walls of blood vessels. - Diseases of the musculoskeletal system
For rheumatism, gout and arthritis, regular use of wheatgrass decoctions and tinctures helps reduce inflammation in the joints and facilitates the patient’s movement. - Anemia, vitamin deficiency, chronic fatigue
Stress, insomnia, increased irritability and causeless anxiety are all indications for the use of wheatgrass. The high content of vitamins, minerals and silicon makes wheatgrass an indispensable remedy for the treatment of nervous diseases.
Use in folk medicine
IN medicinal purposes rhizomes of creeping wheatgrass harvested in spring or autumn. Peel off small roots, wash thoroughly and air dry, then chop. But, unlike other roots, wheatgrass can be collected and consumed all summer.
Before drying, thoroughly clean the rhizomes and rinse in cold water. It is recommended to dry the raw materials at 60 degrees in an oven or special dryer, stirring and turning occasionally. Ready rhizomes should break with a bang without becoming deformed. Shelf life - no more than 3 years.
Medicines
