Often in childhood we heard the phrase “wolf berry” when our parents warned us about the danger of poisoning by those beautiful berries that we met in a clearing in the forest. What are these "bad berries" and why are they called that?

It turns out that there are a lot of plants with poisonous berries in nature and they are all called wolf, in honor of such a predatory and death-bearing animal as a wolf. The fruits of the following plants are popularly called wolfberries:

• Privet, he is a wolfberry or wolf's bast
• Buckthorn brittle
• Voronets
• Elder
• Honeysuckle
• Boxthorn
• calla
• Snowberry
• girlish grapes

And this is not the whole list of poisonous plants.

Plants of the common privet genus are shrubs or small trees, are evergreen or semi-evergreen, belong to the olive family. This poisonous plant, the fruits of which are popularly called "wolfberry". It poses a danger to humans, because it contains the substance solanine, which causes poisoning when it enters the stomach and even on the skin. However, the shrub is a great success with gardeners. Often its plantings are used as hedges.

Description and types of common privet

This shrub is deciduous and grows well in shady areas, usually in oak undergrowth, often reaching a height of 5 meters. The leaves are leathery, oblong, sometimes lanceolate, dark on the outside, and light on the outside. reverse side. The flowers are small, white, collected in inflorescences in the form of panicles about 6 cm long, the smell is sweet and intoxicating. Blooms for about 20 days, from June to mid-July. Fruits on branches, keep until winter, as privet is a plant belonging to winter-hardy species. Wolfberries are usually black in color with a few seeds inside. In general, the shrub resembles appearance lilac, but blooms not so abundantly and beautifully.

In nature, there are 10 varieties of common privet:

1. pyramidal
2. weeping
3. golden
4. evergreen
5. yellowish
6. yellow-fruited
7. silver-coloured
8. gray-gray
9. golden
10. bluish - white-edged

Distribution area and breeding methods

Common privet grows in the Caucasus, in the south of Ukraine, in the north of Moldova, in the north of Africa, in Asia Minor, in the middle and in the south of Europe. The privet shrub begins to produce berries only in the seventh year of life. Therefore, to obtain seeds, it is cultivated on an industrial scale. However, growing shrubs from seeds is a long and laborious process. In horticulture, the propagation method is often used using cuttings, layering or root offspring.

Wolf berries - good or bad?

Privet has proven itself as a means for the destruction of various agricultural pests. Infusions are prepared from berries to combat Colorado potato beetles and other garden insects. Since the infusion is poisonous, when spraying it, it is necessary to observe appropriate safety measures and produce it on early stages development of plants, until the fruits are ripe.

In the old days, ordinary writing ink was produced from the black fruits of privet. Currently, the shrub is used as a living fence in gardens and orchards.

Like many other poisonous plants, wolf berries used in recipes traditional medicine, especially in homeopathy, observing the correct dosage. Preparations based on various extracts from various parts of this plant are used to treat the following diseases and abnormalities:

• Diseases of the heart and blood vessels
• Diseases of the kidneys and liver
• Nervous conditions and mental disorders
• Joint diseases
• Eye diseases
• Viral diseases
• low immunity
• Noise in ears
• Early graying of hair

Traditional medicine also uses tinctures of various parts of this plant to treat diseases of the respiratory system, colds, and skin ailments.

Important! In order to avoid poisoning, it is strictly forbidden to self-medicate with this plant!

What danger is fraught with wolfberries?

Since not only berries, but also all parts of the plant contain the poison solanine, this shrub must be handled with extreme caution. It is necessary to remember and warn children that privet is poisonous. Eating just 5 berries causes certain death. Shiny privet is especially poisonous. If you are accidentally poisoned by wolfberries, you must urgently take appropriate measures to cleanse the stomach and call ambulance.

Symptoms of poisoning

• Severe burning sensation in the mouth
• Gagging
• Difficulty swallowing
• Stomach upset
• Cutting in the eyes and tearing
• Muscle cramps and general weakness

When flowering, the plant should not lean close to it and inhale the aroma. If pollen from a plant enters the body during inhalation, this will also cause certain health problems in the form of irritation of the mucous membrane. When plant sap gets on skin burns, ulcers and painful swelling are possible.

What to do in case of poisoning

If someone unknowingly ate a poisonous privet berry, then first of all it is necessary to call an ambulance and then perform the following actions with the poisoned person:

1. Induce vomiting, give the patient a drink a large number of water with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
2. Give the patient activated charcoal at the rate of 1 tablet per kilogram of body weight.
3. If possible, give the victim a cleansing enema.
4. Convulsions and cardiac arrest are possible, so it is advisable to give the patient cardiac preparations according to the instructions for use.
5. After the procedures performed, put the person in a calm horizontal state and wait for an ambulance.
6. In case of contact with the juice of the plant on the skin, it is urgent to wash the affected area with any disinfectant or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Usually, in all cases, the victim is hospitalized and treated in a hospital.

So, the privet plant can be both useful and extremely dangerous for humans. When contacting him, it is necessary to comply with safety rules, and a mandatory warning about his toxic properties both children and adults. Be attentive to the plants around you!

Wolfberry, according to Wikipedia, is not at all one well-defined plant. This phrase is the collective name of many plants whose fruits are toxic or irritating. The group, popularly called "wolf berry", includes wolfberry, crow's eye, raven, belladonna, red elderberry, castor bean, honeysuckle honeysuckle and others.

Belladonna, or common belladonna

So beautiful word, which in translation means "beautiful lady", is called a plant whose poisonous berries can cause death of the person who has eaten it. The roots of this plant and its leaves are also harmful. Even just touching belladonna causes skin lesions similar to a chemical burn. That is why the people gave the belladonna another name - wolfberry. The plant itself can grow up to one and a half meters in height. Known belladonna Atropa, which is legendary. After all, the word Atropa comes from Atropos - the name of one of the three Fates. It was these Greek goddesses who allegedly held magic scissors in their hands, with which they cut the threads of human lives. But in real life, a wolfberry can just suddenly end the lives of not only people, but also animals.

St. John's wort

Speaking of poisonous berries, we should also recall others, such as, for example, the fruits of May lily of the valley, juniper Tamariscifolia, St. John's wort. And on these plants bright attractive berries ripen, which just ask to be put into the mouth. Many are confused by the fact that St. John's wort and lily of the valley are medicinal plants and should not seem to be fraught with danger. However, the fruits of these plants - inedible berries. For example, the St. John's wort family is often used as a hedge in gardens and yards. You can also find this shrub in the forests. When ripe, the berries first turn red and then turn black or purple. As medicinal plants, they used in medicine.But it is not recommended to eat attractive berries just like that - they are poisonous.

Nightshade

The Solanaceae family includes potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, physalis and nightshade itself. Nightshades also come in several varieties. Widely represented in middle lane Russian black nightshade is an annual herbaceous plant. It is found in ravines and gardens, on the coasts of reservoirs and in bushes. The ground part of the plant is often used to make medicines. But with berries you should be careful. This plant is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. After all, the ripe fruits of nightshade have been used by the people since ancient times, both raw and as a filling for pies. But unripe berries can cause severe poisoning. Therefore, you should be extremely careful if this insidious plant grows nearby. When picking berries for a pie, you need to carefully choose only ripe fruits of bright black color.

elderberry red

Both privet and red elderberry are not a rare old-timer in the yards, especially in rural areas. There is a belief that the clusters of bright berries of these plants scare away mice and rats. Perhaps that is why our ancestors planted these shrubs so actively. And in the spring they delight the eye with their beautiful flowering. But their berries are absolutely impossible to eat - they are poisonous! This is especially true of fresh fruits hanging on branches and seducing those who do not know about the dangers of these beautiful berries. Of course, it's better to just uproot this elderberry out of harm's way! But here lies the problem: this shrub is so tenacious that next year, from a small piece of root left in the ground, a new plant will again reach for the sun.

In nature, there are many useful medicinal herbs and shrubs. Many of them are popular not only among folk healers, but are also part of the officially registered medical preparations. These plants include wolf's bast, whose berries and bark are poisonous. To avoid many unpleasant consequences you need to know: how to prepare a medicinal drink, ointment or powder from bast and in what dosages to use.

What is a wolf's bark

Deadly wolfberry - shade-tolerant, frost-resistant and perennial shrub. It prefers to grow on peaty soil, does not tolerate periods of drought, and propagates mainly by seeds. Due to poisonous wolfberries and bast bark, in park areas and on household plots the plant is planted infrequently. But in the forest, this shrub can be found everywhere. Bast grows in the European part of Russia, Western Siberia and the Caucasus. Wolfberry, although it is considered a widespread plant, but the photograph of the bast is listed in the Red Book of the Moscow Region.

Description

Rural residents, mushroom pickers, lovers of picnics in nature and summer residents, who often visit the forest, this shrub is well known. For the strength of the bark, which is difficult to break with bare hands, the townsfolk call it a bast. The official botanical name of the plant is the deadly wolfberry or common wolfberry, but culturologists call it Daphne - after the name of the genus Daphne mezereum.

In appearance, bast is a low deciduous bush that rarely grows above the one and a half meter mark. Among its fellows, it stands out for its early and colorful flowering. The flowers are small, the color of the bast petals is lilac-pink, white-pink or pink-lilac. The buds are very fragrant and stay on the branches for a whole month. The leaves of the wolf are oblong, up to 10 cm long: bluish-green above and light green below.

Healing properties

All parts of the shrub contain harmful substances among which the most dangerous are:

• mesereum resin - causes severe intestinal upset, and when in contact with the skin, blisters or redness;
• Daphne glycoside and coumarin - change the composition of the blood, lead to bleeding.

This fact should be taken into account, but we must not forget that the plant has a mass positive qualities. Although the wolf's bast is a poisonous plant, it has a good antiepileptic property, acts as a hypnotic and laxative, improves intestinal motility, and is endowed with analgesic and analgesic effects. Due to this, bast is often used to treat:

• skin diseases: eczema, irritation, herpes, lichen, erythema;
• headaches and toothaches;
• dysentery;
• epilepsy;
• paralysis;
• gout, neuralgia, sciatica, rheumatism;
• pulmonary tuberculosis;
• malignant neoplasms of the pharynx, tumors of the uterus, mammary glands, gastrointestinal tract;
• leukemia;
• jaundice;
• viral diseases: colds, sore throats, flu.

During treatment, do not forget about the precautions. Otherwise, an overdose of wolfberry can lead to spasmodic pain, vomiting, burning in the digestive tract, skin rashes, fever, blood clots when urinating. If you notice any of the symptoms, you should immediately call an ambulance. It is strictly forbidden to give medicines based on bast to a child.

What does a wolf's bast look like

Daphne fruits are more often used in homeopathy. Because of this, many connoisseurs of traditional medicine have a natural question: how not to confuse them with others or what color are the berries of the wolf's bast? In appearance, they resemble forest cherries: bright red, with a glossy surface that, at the slightest hit of the sun, sparkles like a mirror. The diameter of the bast berry is about 1 centimeter. They grow close to each other, under a massive deciduous crown.

Wolf bast in folk medicine

Due to its properties, bast is often used in traditional medicine recipes. Bark, leaves and wolf berries are the most valuable medicinal raw materials, but only if they are correctly collected, prepared and taken in minimal dosages. Protective gloves must be worn to avoid damaging the skin on the hands. The collection of the bark from the bast should be carried out before the beginning of its flowering, and the fruits - in the middle or late summer.

Decoction

The most convenient way to treat headaches, eliminate insomnia, in the complex of antitumor therapy is to use a decoction of bast:

1. Two grams of dry bast inflorescences must be poured with two tablespoons of boiling water.
2. Then boil under the lid for 15-20 minutes.
3. Pass the decoction of the bast through a fine mesh sieve, and squeeze the juice from the inflorescences.
4. Dilute the resulting volume of medicine with 250 milliliters warm water.
5. Drink a medicinal decoction of bast 4-5 drops three times a day.

Powder

toothache instantly eliminate a cotton pad with wolf powder applied to it. To prepare it, use the following instructions:

1. At the beginning of flowering bast, collect flowers.
2. Dry the plants outdoors or in a special heat chamber at low temperatures.
3. Next, use a mortar to grind the wolf inflorescences. Sift additionally if necessary.
4. Use the mixture to eliminate acute toothache, 1-2 grams.
5. In addition, pain-relieving bast powder can be rubbed directly into the gum.

For modern residents of the metropolis, a walk through the forest is an incomparable rest and joy. Fresh air, the tart smell of sun-warmed leaves creates a special mood, restores energy and vitality.

And it’s also so interesting to arrange a “silent hunt” for mushrooms and berries! With mushrooms, everything is more or less clear: we are regularly informed and reminded of dangerous species. But with berries it is more difficult. They all seem harmless, and at first glance it is very difficult to distinguish poisonous berries. Therefore, very often in the summer you can read in the news about poisoning with compote from or severe intestinal disorders after eating fresh.

Let's see what poisonous and inedible berries are in our lane.

Wolfberry (wolfberry)

This is a low shrub that blooms with white or light pink flowers, similar to lilacs. The fruits appear directly on the stem, ripen in July. Outwardly, the wolfberry is very attractive: bright red, shiny, juicy. Children are drawn to try these beautiful fruits. It is not difficult, because the shrub is grown as ornamental plant around houses, in city parks and gardens.

However, the wolfberry is entirely poisonous - both the leaves, the bark, and the fruits are dangerous because they contain the toxic substance daphne. If you touch the bark or rub the leaves, red, itchy spots and blisters can appear on the skin. In more severe injuries, necrosis of individual skin areas occurs.

Wolfberry also leads to severe food poisoning - for this it is enough to eat only a dozen fruits. There is a strong secretion of saliva, pain in the stomach, vomiting and convulsions, rises heat. The work of the intestines and kidneys is disturbed. Recovery, even with timely assistance, takes a long time.

Belladonna

This beautiful shrub with dark green leaves that blooms in solitary large purple or purple flowers. The fruits are black, slightly flattened, similar in size and shape to small cherries. The taste is sweet and juicy.

Belladonna berries rank first in terms of toxicity, since they contain three types of poison at once: atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine. Even a small amount of fruit can lead to a slow and painful death.

Snowberry

This is an ornamental, extremely frost-resistant plant. It blooms all summer with pink elegant inflorescences, and in September-October it begins to bear fruit with white juicy balls about a centimeter in diameter. Berries adorn the shrub for a very long time - until the middle of winter.

The fruits of the snowberry are highly poisonous and can be fatal.

Buckthorn (magpie berries)

This shrub blooms with small greenish-white flowers, in place of which small berries then appear. Unripe fruits are light red, while mature fruits are black. The use of buckthorn berries is not fatal, but leads to quite severe nausea and vomiting.

raven eye

The low bushes of this plant are found only in the forest, they can be confused with blueberries or blueberries. But it is not difficult to distinguish: the berry grows singly, in the middle of a four-leaf corolla it has a very bad smell. One or two berries are not very dangerous, but a larger amount can lead to vomiting and diarrhea.

And buckthorn, and affect only the gastrointestinal tract. The well-known honeysuckle also belongs to such toxic, but non-lethal berries.

Adults, as a rule, are careful not to try unfamiliar wild specimens. But children can be tempted by beautiful multi-colored fruits.

What to do if the child managed to taste poisonous berries?

First, you need to induce vomiting as soon as possible. Before that, let the child drink a little weak to oxidize in the stomach.

After the stomach has cleared, it is necessary to drink the child with a mixture of crushed activated carbon and water.

If possible, you need to do an enema to clean the intestines.

If there is inflammation on the skin, then wash the damaged areas with a solution of potassium permanganate.

After providing first aid, be sure to go to the hospital.

It just so happened that different concepts are hidden under the term "wolf berries".

1

Firstly, wolf berries are one of the popular names for a shrub called wolf's bast(other names are wolfberry, wolf, daphne). This amazing plant already in the spring, it begins to behave differently from the rest of the "respectable" bushes and trees: leaves first appear on them and only then - flowers. And the wolfberry is first covered with beautiful pink flowers(in April-May), and only then releases "whirlwinds" of narrow ovoid leaves on the tops of the branches.

Bright red berries of a wolf's bast the size of a pea sit directly on branches of 2-3 pieces, like sea buckthorn.

Despite the fact that they look very appetizing, you should never eat them, as they are highly poisonous! However, in the wolfberry, all parts of the plant are poisonous. Even a small drop of plant juice, falling on the skin or mucous membrane of the lips or eyes, causes irritation. If you eat a wolf berry, burning, nausea, vomiting, weakness will begin, convulsions may begin, the temperature will rise ... Therefore, try not to approach this beautiful bush!

"Wolf's bast" ... Why wolf? Probably because among the people wolves have long been the personification of deceit, cruelty and evil. And why bast? But because the bark of the wolf (more precisely, the bast layer under the bark) is very strong. Previously, paper, ropes, ropes were made from it, and even bast shoes were woven. Anyone who has tried to pluck a wolf branch "as a keepsake" knows that it is easy to break it off, but it is already more difficult to tear it off the bush. The reason is a strong bast.

Only after reading these lines, please do not treat this plant as an enemy if you happen to meet it in the forest! Firstly, it is quite rare and is listed in the Red Book. Secondly, the wolf's bast is a wonderful honey plant, and it blooms at a time when there are still very few other flowers. Thirdly, wolf - medicinal plant. Fourth, despite the toxicity, birds for some reason can eat wolf fruits without any harm to themselves, so do not deprive the birds of this source of food.

2

Wolfberries are sometimes called forest honeysuckle. Its berries are very similar to the berries of the wolf's bast:

It can be distinguished from the wolf by two signs: its berries on short pedicels depart from the nodes (that is, from where the leaves leave), and not from the internodes. In addition, honeysuckle berries sit in pairs. They are not poisonous, like the berries of the wolf's bark, but still inedible. You bite into a berry - and at first you feel a sweetish taste, but almost immediately you feel a strong bitterness in your mouth, which then does not go away for a long time.

By the way, forest honeysuckle is a close relative of edible honeysuckle. Its blue, with a bluish bloom, berries have a delicate aroma and a bitter-sour taste reminiscent of blueberries, contain a lot of useful substances and are valued for medicinal purposes. It is bred in gardens.

3.

And, finally, "wolf berries" is the collective popular name for all berries with black or red berry-like fruits that are inedible or poisonous. Here are some examples of such plants.