Nasturtium appeared in Europe thanks to the Jesuit monks in the middle of the 16th century, and already in the 18th century, Europeans knew not only about the excellent decorative, but also about the excellent taste and medicinal properties of this plant. The name comes from the Latin word for ‘small trophy’ because of the helmet-like shape of some parts of the flower.
The name capuchin took root in Germany: the peculiar shape of the spur served as the basis for this. Hood and capuchin are brothers. In our gardens, it appeared simultaneously with potatoes and corn, has long been the leader in popularity among garden flowers for many decades. Nasturtium delighted even our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. She is happy to be bred in the flowerbeds of kindergartens and schools, because it is an unpretentious flower, so care is not difficult and is minimized, even for a schoolchild.
Nasturtium - a bright palette of colors in your garden
Nasturtium, capuchin (Tropaeolum) - about 90 species of herbaceous perennial plants belong to this genus, native to Central and South America, the Mediterranean. Plants are unpretentious, with magnificent flowers of various shades from yellow to red, grown as annuals in the form of compact bushes or lianas. The stem is creeping or curly up to 3 m long. The root system is rod, placed in upper layers soil.
The leaves are large, alternate, thyroid or palmate, juicy on long petioles, green or red. The flowers are large, solitary, bisexual, on long stalks, located in the axils of the leaves. Blooms from late June until the first frost. The fruit is three-celled, consists of one-seeded fruitlets with a bumpy surface and a spongy light yellow-green shell.
Growing and caring for nasturtium outdoors
Nasturtiums are grown on outdoors in pots, flower beds, flower beds. Curly and creeping species - in hanging baskets, on supports. She is growing very fast. hedge from nasturtium serves as an excellent screen all summer. Prefers well-drained areas, loamy soils.
On overfertilized lands, it develops powerful stems and leaves to the detriment of flowering. During flowering, regular watering is required. With a lack of moisture, it grows poorly, does not bloom for a long time. Feed every 3 weeks with a moderate amount of complex mineral fertilizers. The culture cannot stand fresh organic fertilizers, lime, excess nitrogen fertilizers, as well as waterlogging.
Wilted, damaged and diseased flowers are removed in a timely manner. This stimulates the formation of new buds. Not resistant to low temperatures: flowers can not stand even light frosts.
Growing nasturtium from seeds When to plant in the ground and seedlings
Nasturtium seeds photo
Planting nasturtium seeds in the ground
Annual species are grown from seed. They can be sown in open and protected ground from the end of March to the beginning of April. They prepare a bed, loosening the ground well and stuffing the furrows after 20-25 cm. Rather large nasturtium seeds are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm and the furrows are closed reverse side rake. The distance between the seeds should be at least 8-10 cm in order to get full-fledged seedlings for planting on permanent place.
After sowing, it will not be superfluous to cover the bed with a film, placing arcs, or to build an earthen rampart around the perimeter, pressing the film with a stone or brick to the ground. When shoots appear, it will be necessary to ensure that the temperature inside the greenhouse does not rise above 25 ° C, water it in time. Because high temperatures, burning sunlight and lack of moisture are no less destructive than negative temperatures. When warm days come, the film is removed during the day, protecting the plants only at night in case of sudden frosts.
You can plant nasturtium in the ground immediately in a permanent place, hoping that the distance between the bushes should be left decent: about 40-50 cm. Do not spare the place, otherwise the plants will oppress each other, become underdeveloped and little decorative. Planting nasturtium in open ground immediately in a flower bed is carried out only when the night frosts recede: the seeds will quickly sprout and will be damaged by frost if they are not protected. Depending on the region, this may be the end of May - the beginning of June.
Growing nasturtium from seeds for seedlings at home
Nasturtium seedlings are sown with the onset of April 1-2 seeds in peat pots or tablets. You can use loose soil for flowering plants by filling them with ordinary seedling cups. The embedment depth is 1 cm. After planting, be sure to water it, put the cups on the south window, where there will be enough light and heat. You can cover the seeds with a film to create greenhouse conditions, but when shoots appear, it should be removed. Shoots appear in 10-12 days. If two seeds were planted, a more powerful sprout is chosen, and a weak plant is cut off. The grown plants are planted in May in fertile, well loosened and watered soil, without disturbing the earthen coma, at a distance of 40-50 cm.
Curly varieties can be planted a little more often - up to 35 cm, but this is if they grow on a vertical support. Seeds previously soaked during the day are sown directly in open ground from mid-May. Cooling is detrimental to nasturtium, so it is better to cover the plants for the first time with a film or non-woven material.
How to collect nasturtium seeds
Nasturtium usually produces abundant self-seeding, which, when favorable conditions will grow next year. Seeds are harvested after flowering, they remain viable for at least 4 years. They are removed from the most liked copies. Mature are brown in color. After harvesting, they are dried and stored in paper bags. Perennial species are planted in spring (5-7 plants per 30-45 cm container at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other) and put on a well-lit windowsill.
Wintering of perennial nasturtium and storage of tubers
In autumn, the bushes are cut to the ground. And in a cold climate, the tubers are dug up and stored in a cool place in a box with dry peat.
Perennial species are propagated by division of tubers in March. After that, they are laid out for germination or immediately planted in pots with nutrient soil, and after the onset of warm days they are taken out into the street. perennial species of this tropical beauty have just begun to conquer the market, while little known.
Reproduction of nasturtium cuttings
Nasturtium can be cutting. This method is used for breeding terry varieties. The cuttings are rooted in wet sand or a glass of water, after being treated with root. They plant 1 cutting in a cup; when transplanted into open ground, they do not disturb the earthen coma. The main method of reproduction of nasturtium is still seed. It is the simplest, most accessible, used everywhere.
Pests and diseases
It is affected by gray rot, rot, mosaic. If changes are found in the form of a mosaic pattern, withering of the lower leaves, small brown spots, the damaged parts of the plant should be removed.
It will not be superfluous to additionally process the landings with special preparations. Usually, diseases actively develop in wet weather and in dense, poorly ventilated plantings. Observe the recommended sowing distance. This is one of those cases when it is better to plant less often, and then many diseases will not be terrible for your flower garden.
Nasturtiums are aphids spider mite and cruciferous flea. To combat them, you can use chemicals. If you eat the plant, use folk methods - daily pollination of plants with a mixture of ash and tobacco dust or spraying with vinegar (1 cup of 9% vinegar or 2 tablespoons of vinegar essence in a bucket of water). Ash can be scattered around the bushes.
Nasturtium helps to increase the yield of vegetables. She distracts insect pests, who willingly choose capuchins to lay their eggs. Therefore, growing nasturtium near the beds with vegetables, you will protect them from the whitefly, cabbage butterfly, Colorado potato beetle. You can combine plantings by placing nasturtium mixed with vegetable crops or making decorative curtains out of it. Nasturtium is one of the most sought after flowers by many gardeners. It is unpretentious, blooms for a long time and pleases the eye with a magnificent outfit, serves as protection against many insects.
Useful properties of nasturtium
Nasturtium is successfully used by traditional medicine to dilate blood vessels, to improve the blood supply to the heart muscle, as an antitussive, as an antiseptic for diseases of the genitourinary system, as a normalizing metabolic process. It is useful for older people. Due to the content of carotene and sulfur in it, which are preventive substances in sclerosis. It is used in food as a source of vitamins, increasing the biological value of ordinary dishes.
Leaves, buds, flowers, and unripe fruits have a pleasant, pungent taste reminiscent of watercress. Leaves and flowers are used in salads, sandwiches, soups, sauces, side dishes. Unripe fruits, buds are pickled separately or mixed with other vegetables. unpretentious flower has long won the hearts of amateur gardeners. He does not require special care, grows quickly and blooms for a long time, is able to turn even the dullest corners of the garden into a colorful landscape.
Variety of colors available planting material will satisfy the needs of any gardener. forms serve as an excellent decoration for hedges, courtyard buildings, as well as those places that need to be hidden from prying eyes. Bush forms are suitable for decorating flower beds, borders, mixborders. According to the complexity of breeding, it is available to the most inexperienced flower growers. Planting and caring for nasturtium can be entrusted even to a child.
Types of nasturtium with description and photo
There are varieties of nasturtiums with bush and climbing forms, with simple, double, semi-double flowers. There are variegated varieties. It is used as a decorative flower culture for carpet plantings, for vertical gardening. Leaves, buds, unripe fruits are used as an aromatic additive in cooking.
Large nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Annual, curly, ascending appearance. Characterized by thyroid light green, red or yellow flowers with a spur. The leaves are long-petiolate, rounded, unequal, green or with a purple tint. Most often, a variety of ‘Glim’ is bred with semi-double flowers, painted in orange tones. On the basis of this species, many varieties bred in household plots have been bred.
Nasturtium foreign Tropaeolum peregrinum
A climbing nasturtium from the Canary Islands, a perennial form with irregular yellow flowers with a fringed margin and shield-like leaves. If the winter is warm - winters well in open ground.
Tuberous nasturtium Tropaeolum tuberosum
Tuberous climbing plant with bluish-green five-lobed leaves, which is grown in the mountainous regions of Peru, Chile, Bolivia. In the absence of support, it forms a soil cover. It has large pear-shaped tubers and is an important starch product.
It has been cultivated since ancient times by the Indians. Yellow-orange flowers 4-5 cm long with a red spur appear later than in other species. The tubers are large, yellow with a marbled pattern. Cultivated as an annual. In autumn, the tubers are removed from the ground, aired in the open air, and stored like dahlias.
Nasturtium- a medicinal and food plant, a representative of the Nasturtium family. Nasturtium is perennial, with delicate multi-colored flowers and green leaves (see photo). It is often planted for decoration. summer cottages, forgetting that it is used in cooking, and even in medicine.
Nasturtium was brought to Europe from India, the Europeans called it "Indian watercress". For a long time, the flower was known as "capuchin" for its resemblance to the hood of the monks of this order. Nowadays, an elegant plant is grown in parks, in front gardens and even on a windowsill.
Varieties
Nasturtium has so captivated summer residents with its decorative effect and unpretentiousness that breeders do not get tired of experimenting in creating new varieties. The most famous varieties today are:
- Nasturtium "Vesuvius" - small bushes of a plant, with surprisingly beautiful flowers of pink shades with burgundy spots on the petals.
- Nasturtium "Cherry Rose" beautiful name has a variety with many terry flowers of crimson hue.
- Nasturtium "Day and Night" - the plant has cream and red flowers, which became the culprits for the name of this variety.
Growing: planting and care
You can grow nasturtium for both decorative and medicinal purposes. The plant as a whole is picky, if all conditions are created, nasturtium will quickly grow and bloom. She loves warmth and fertile soil. Nasturtium blooms usually in June, as for cut flowers, they can stand in a vase for almost a week.
You can grow a flower not only in the garden, but also on the windowsill. Nasturtium is a heat-loving plant, so it is necessary to sow seeds after all frosts. Lowering the temperature, even to 0 degrees, is detrimental to the flower. For the winter, it is recommended to dig up the flowers and transplant them into pots; it is better for the plant to spend the winter in the house. In the spring, nasturtium can be re-planted in open ground. Nasturtium can be planted from seeds, or you can pre-sprout them. Flower care consists of regular watering and getting rid of weeds.
Beneficial features
The beneficial properties of nasturtium have recently interested physicians. The leaves and flowers of the plant are rich in vitamin C. Nasturtium contains 10 times more ascorbic acid than lettuce leaves. This fact allows us to consider the flower as a natural remedy for the prevention of colds. It is shown to use the plant for spring beriberi.
Nasturtium is effective for heart disease, it contains the substance tropeolin. It affects the strength of heart contractions, which allows the use of nasturtium to normalize the activity of the heart. Also, nasturtium contains potassium salts, which is needed for the work of the heart muscle.
The plant contains essential oil which has many useful properties. There is evidence that nasturtium essential oil normalizes hormonal levels in the human body. The plant is used to facilitate the flow of menopause. Essential oil also slows down the process of premature aging.
Application in cooking
In cooking, the flower has been used for a long time. Cooks have adapted to preparing salads from nasturtium, adding it as a seasoning to soups, to fried meat. Monks in ancient times added the leaves of the plant to salads and kept it as a great culinary secret. The dish was called "cardinal salad". Interestingly, due to the similarity of the nasturtium flower with the hood of the monks of the Capuchin order, one of its names sounds like “capuchin”.
As for the taste qualities of nasturtium, all its parts have a special spicy taste and pungent aroma. The flower has long been used in cooking to stimulate appetite. Europeans prepared a salad of leaves and flowers from nasturtium, which tasted close to watercress. french cuisine uses nasturtium to give the dish a special piquancy. The French add nasturtium to salads, and sandwiches decorate its flowers.
Nasturtium seeds are also used for gastronomic purposes. They are quite large, similar to shriveled nuts. Nasturtium seeds are used as a spicy meat seasoning, boiled in vinegar.
All parts of the plant have a characteristic peppery taste. The leaves of the flower are rich in vitamin C, this vitamin, in addition to being beneficial for the body, tends to give the dish a slight sourness.
Nasturtium flowers are great for making savory pasta sandwiches. To do this, grind a few cloves of garlic and nasturtium petals to a paste-like consistency, add a little mayonnaise, salt. Pasta goes well with ham, cheese, such sandwiches can be decorated with herbs on top.
Nasturtium will add spice even to yourself a simple dish. According to some reports, in many countries nasturtium replaced pepper, its seeds were ground and used as a seasoning. In the country, you can cook a simple nasturtium salad. For the salad, boil three potatoes and two eggs. Cut the ingredients into cubes, add chopped flowers or nasturtium leaves, season the salad with herbs, salt and mix well. Salad goes well with homemade sour cream.
The flower harmonizes perfectly with such simple ingredients as boiled potatoes, eggs, green pea. Nasturtium buds are usually pickled and served as a separate dish or with other vegetables. Capers are prepared from the seeds of the flower. For this dish, you need to prepare 200 grams of nasturtium buds and marinade. The marinade consists of a mixture of spices and 6% vinegar. For 1 liter of water take 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vinegar, 50 grams of sugar, add a little pepper and dried bay leaf. Marinade must be brought to a boil and left to cool. Capers are added to pickle, soups. Marinade from ready-made capers is suitable for making borscht.
Dried nasturtium flowers are brewed with boiling water, getting a fragrant and healthy tea. They are also added for flavor to homemade wine. Powder from the plant can be used in almost any dish where the sharp taste of nasturtium is appropriate. Vinegar is insisted on the plant to give it aroma and taste. To do this, you need to take 2.5 liters of malt vinegar and add to it 500 grams of fresh flowers of the plant, 4 cloves, 10 pieces of black peppercorns, 4 pieces of shallots and 2-3 cloves of garlic. This vinegar pairs well with fatty meats such as lamb and can be used to add flavor to various salads.
A spicy drink is prepared from the leaves of the plant. For a drink you will need 80 grams of sugar, 20 grams of grated horseradish, 50 grams of nasturtium leaves. Nasturtium leaves are crushed, mixed with horseradish, then sugar is added and infused for 10 hours. The drink is usually drunk cold.
The benefits of nasturtium and treatment
The benefits of nasturtium are the presence of antibiotics plant origin
. The flower was used to treat damaged mucous membranes, in diseases of the respiratory tract. Thanks to high content vitamin C plant is an effective prevention of scurvy.
Can be cooked at home alcohol tincture nasturtiums. The flowers of the plant must be poured with vodka, after 14 days the tincture can be used. Nasturtium is recommended for colds, inflammation of the genitourinary system, loss of strength. In order to quickly ease the symptoms of a cold, it is necessary to dilute the tincture with water and gargle a sore throat.
In cosmetology, nasturtium is used as a means to strengthen hair. For this, nasturtium is mixed with nettle. Herbs are carefully crushed, combined in one container and pour 0.5 liters of vodka. After 14 days, the tincture is ready for use. The mixture is applied to the hair roots every other day. After a week of applying the mixture, hair loss should stop. Hair will become stronger and healthier.
Harm of nasturtium and contraindications
The plant can cause harm with individual intolerance. If dosages are not observed, nasturtium can cause irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. People with gastritis or peptic ulcer stomach, you can not use nasturtium, it can be dangerous to health.
A plant called nasturtium has been deservedly popular for centuries due to its medicinal properties and taste characteristics (not to mention the fact that this very beautiful and elegant plant can decorate any garden). About how and when to collect nasturtium, how to properly use this plant in medicine and cosmetology, what useful and delicious dishes you can cook from it, and we'll talk in detail in this article.
plant description
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum) is an annual or perennial herbaceous plant(may be tuberous and climbing), belonging to the nasturtium family.In Russia, this plant, imported from Holland, was known under the name Capuchin, which is associated with the shape of the flower itself, imitating the hood of a monk's cloak. The fact is that "capuchin" and "hood" are brother words. Later, however, the name "nasturtium" stuck.
But the official name - Tropaeolum - this beautiful plant gave K. Linnaeus, who found the similarity of nasturtium leaves with the shields of warriors, while the flowers of the plant reminded him of the helmets of defeated enemies stained with blood, which were hung on the columns (this is how Roman soldiers commemorated the victory). Such columns were called tropaeolum.
Interesting fact! To this day in Germany, bags of nasturtium seeds have the following inscription - "kapuziner tropaeolum", thereby combining several theories of the name into one.
Nasturtium is an edible plant
All parts of nasturtium (with the exception of the roots) are edible: for example, the succulent leaves, as well as the flowers of this plant, have a pleasant peppery taste, similar to the taste of watercress. In addition, the aerial parts of nasturtium, rich in ascorbic acid, give a certain piquancy to many dishes due to their sharpness and slight sourness, making them not only tasty, but also extremely healthy.What does nasturtium look like?
Upright, creeping or climbing stems of nasturtium are distinguished by fleshiness, juiciness and pronounced branching. The length of the stem can reach a mark of 2 - 4 m.Rounded, sinewy, thyroid leaves of the plant with a wax coating, having solid edges, are arranged in the next order on rather long petioles.
single large flowers irregular shape they are distinguished by a delicate and pleasant aroma, they are located on long peduncles. The brightly colored calyx of flowers has spurs at the base. Nasturtium flowers can be simple, semi-double or double (it all depends on the plant variety). The corolla consists of five petals of yellow, orange or red.
The fruit of the nasturtium is prefabricated, over time it breaks up into three identical wrinkled fruits of a round-kidney shape small sizes. Inside each such fruit is one seed.
Interesting fact! Nasturtium flowers of bright orange color seem to "flash" at a bright red "western" sunset.
Where does nasturtium grow?
In total, there are about 80 species of nasturtiums, mainly growing in South America (mainly in the Andes). However, due to its unpretentiousness, this plant has perfectly taken root in Europe and Russia (in fairness, it should be noted that annual species of nasturtium prevail in Russia, since this plant does not tolerate frost).Nasturtium prefers moderately moist soils with good drainage, but this plant does not tolerate fresh organic fertilizers, as well as excess moisture.
Nasturtium is warm and photophilous, so you can meet it in all its glory in a sun-drenched area or in the light partial shade of trees. With insufficient light, nasturtium will have a miserable appearance, characterized by stunted shoots and the absence of flowers.
Varieties of nasturtium
Of the variety of varieties of nasturtium used with therapeutic purpose, the most common in Russia are foreign, large and cultural. Let's talk about them in more detail.Nasturtium foreign
This type of nasturtium is often called "Canarian" (the official name of the variety is Tropaeolum peregrinum). Foreign nasturtium is a herbaceous climbing plant, the light green stem of which in some cases reaches 4 m. It grows wild in the northwestern part of South America.
This plant has small, five- or seven-parted leaves and small flowers with yellow corrugated petals, as well as green spurs. The upper petals are distinguished by fringed edges.
This plant is edible: for example, its young leaves are enriched with vitamin C, and there is twice as much ascorbic acid in them than, for example, in green parsley.
External preparations from foreign nasturtium (especially juice) are used in the treatment of pruritus, scabies and baldness. Inside, infusions and decoctions from the plant are indicated for heart disease and hypertension.
Nasturtium big
Large nasturtium (or Tropaeolum majus) reaches a height of 10 - 70 cm (in some cases, the length of the stem can reach up to two meters). This plant has a creeping, bare, succulent, branched and slightly curly stem.
The leaves of nasturtium are large, alternate, whole and long-petiolate, they are distinguished by uneven edges and the presence of 10 veins on each leaf. The upper side of the leaf is colored light green, while the lower side is bluish (in some cases, the lower part of the leaf has a purple tint).
Single flowers are placed on long peduncles with a calyx with a spur. Yellow, orange or bright red flowers have five unfused petals.
Nasturtium has long been used in folk medicine and cooking. So, fresh leaves of the plant, hard flower buds, as well as unripe green seeds with a pungent taste, are used as a seasoning for meat and vegetable dishes. Pickled flower buds, like green fruits, in their taste characteristics resemble the taste of capers.
IN folk medicine preparations based on nasturtium large are used in the treatment of diseases such as scurvy, anemia, skin diseases, urolithiasis, hypertension, chronic bronchial catarrh, and baldness.
Nasturtium cultural
Under the name of cultural nasturtium (or Tropaeolum majus), mainly hybrids of two varieties of nasturtium are combined - large and shield-bearing. It's densely leafy annual plants with green or purple thyroid leaves, the color of the flowers of which can vary from light yellow to orange-red.
Simple or double fragrant flowers of a plant in diameter can be 5 cm.
It should be noted that varieties of cultural nasturtium can differ not only in the color of the flowers, but also in the shape of the bush itself: for example, plants can be compact (their height does not exceed 50 cm), creeping (shoot length reaches 4 m), dwarf (maximum plant height is 20 - 25 cm).
In folk medicine, cultural nasturtium is used similarly to large nasturtium.
Collection and storage
For medicinal purposes, mainly the aerial part of nasturtium is used, namely leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.Fresh leaves and flowers are used throughout the summer.
When harvesting the aerial part of the plant for future use, it is necessary to carefully cut the leafy flowering stems. The stems are dried in the fresh air, but in the shade, while the raw materials are laid out in one thin layer and mixed regularly until the end of drying.
The fruits of nasturtium for use in cooking are cut off unripe, while for use in traditional medicine this part of the plant should be harvested as it ripens, drying it in the air or at a temperature of 40 degrees using dryers. Seeds are extracted from dried fruits.
Important! Nasturtium grows quickly, for this reason, its aerial part can be collected two to three times during the growing season.
Dried raw materials are stored in cloth bags (preferably in well-ventilated areas).
Shelf life is two years.
When does nasturtium bloom?
Nasturtium blooms from early summer to early autumn.Seed collection
Large nasturtium seeds are in a thick protective shell.It should be noted that nasturtium seeds do not ripen at the same time, but as the plant fades (between August and September), that is, 40-50 days after the petals fall.
Ripe seeds of the plant spontaneously fall off. About the maturity of the seeds says them appearance: so, from green they become whitish, while they should be easily separated from the pedicel.
Nasturtium seeds are stored in cardboard boxes.
The composition and properties of nasturtium
Vitamin C
Action: - normalization of the functions of the central nervous system;
- decrease in the content of uric acid in the blood;
- stimulation of the endocrine glands;
- normalization of redox processes;
- ensuring the full process of hematopoiesis;
- strengthening of capillaries;
- ensuring the normal formation and growth of bone tissue;
- strengthening immunity;
- improved absorption of iron.
Tropeolin
Tropeolin is a mobile light liquid with a sharp specific odor.
This substance has an inotropic property, that is, it is able to change the strength of heart contractions, due to which it is used to normalize cardiac activity. In addition, tropeolin improves coronary blood flow.
Essential oil
Action:
- normalizes the functions of the cardiovascular system;
- removes carcinogens;
- softens cough and enhances the separation of mucus, as well as sputum from the bronchi;
- increases efficiency;
- improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
- normalizes the work of the central nervous system;
- relieves inflammation;
- accelerates wound healing;
- stimulates the immune system;
- eliminates pain syndrome;
- normalizes hormone levels;
- improves memory and concentration;
- slows down the aging process.
Action:
- promoting the excretion of urine;
- increased appetite;
- vasodilation;
- neutralization of microbes;
- increased mucus excretion;
- increased secretion of gastric juice;
- removal of inflammation.
Action:
- restoration of redox processes;
- increased protein synthesis;
- regulation of metabolism;
- participation in the formation of both bones and teeth;
- prevention of premature aging;
- strengthening immunity;
- prevention of colds.
Action:
- providing muscles, brain, and peripheral nervous system energy;
- elimination of mental and physical fatigue;
- ensuring carbohydrate metabolism;
- participation in the synthesis of nucleic acids;
- normalization of the nervous system;
- improvement in the condition of the eyes.
Action:
- protecting the body from infections;
- elimination of toxins;
- strengthening immunity.
Action:
- enhances basal metabolism;
- promotes an increase in the activity of enzymes;
- ensures normal growth, general physical and mental development;
- beneficial effect on the condition skin and hair;
- normalizes the functions of the nervous system;
- regulates the work of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, sexual and musculoskeletal systems.
Action:
- relieves mental and physical stress;
- accelerates the recovery of the body after injuries and intoxications;
- removes toxins;
- regulates heart rate;
- maintains water-salt balance;
- lowers the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood.
Action:
- ensuring almost all metabolic reactions;
- providing the body with energy;
- regulation of acid-base balance;
- normalization of the central nervous system and cardiovascular system;
- ensuring the formation of bone tissue.
The healing properties of nasturtium
- Anti-inflammatory.
- Diuretic.
- Antiseptic.
- Antiscorbutic.
- Antitussive.
- Expectorant.
- Uroseptic.
- Antibiotic.
- Diuretic.
- Laxative.
- Anthelmintic.
- Fortifying.
- Antitumor.
- Tonic.
- Blood purifying.
- Antibacterial.
- Antifungal.
The benefits and harms of nasturtium
Benefit
1. Neutralization of pathogenic microbes.2. Normalization of metabolic processes.
3. Strengthening the protective functions of the body.
4. Eliminate angina attacks.
5. Removal of pain syndrome.
6. Feeling better.
7. Blood purification.
8. Removal of toxins.
9. Removal of symptoms of intoxication.
10. Removal of worms.
11. Vasodilation.
12. Improving the blood supply to the heart muscle.
13. Increased appetite.
14. Normalization of the CNS.
15. Metabolism improvement.
According to the results of clinical trials, in patients suffering from chronic coronary insufficiency provoked by atherosclerosis, after taking nasturtium preparations, angina attacks stopped after 2-3 minutes, pain was relieved, and overall health improved.
Let's say right away: this chapter is about mistakes that have become so firmly established both in botanical practice and in our everyday life that it is hardly advisable to get rid of them. But acquaintance with them is not only interesting, but also instructive.
There is such a childish game in a damaged phone. The word, passed from one to another in a half-whisper, indistinctly and quickly, reaches the end of the chain, often in an unrecognizably distorted form, causing general cheerful surprise.
"Broken phone" sometimes operates in botany. Here, for example, you have a tall plant with complex trifoliate leaves and an umbrella-like inflorescence of small purple flowers, from which stamens peep out (Fig. 10). Basil - calls his fundamental publication "Flora of the middle zone of the European part of the USSR." He is echoed by the reference book Herbaceous Plants of the USSR. The same is confirmed by the “Key to Plants of the Moscow Region”. It would seem that everything is clear. But in fact, this word is from the far end of the “damaged phone” chain. And what was at the beginning? In the old herbalists we find "Vasilisa-grass", leading its pedigree from a common Russian female name in the past. So, not a basilisk, but a basilisk. The difference seems to be small, just in one letter, but the meaning is still different.
Many tropical plants have firmly entered our lives, and among them nasturtium is a popular annual, whose original leaves are thyroid-shaped, with veins running from the center, like small umbrellas, sitting on long, sometimes intricately curved petioles, also attached in the center of the leaf blade. Orange-red flowers consist of five velvety petals, a corolla and a brightly colored calyx, which is drawn into a long spur, resembling a hood. The peculiar shape of the spur served as the starting point for the German name for this plant - capuchin lettuce (Kapuzinerkresse). Capuchin and hood are brother words, and the Catholic Order of Capuchins (in Italian cappuccino) got its name from capuccio, a pointed hood, an indispensable attribute of the attire of monks - members of this religious society. Thus, the first half of the title is clear, but the second half is yet to come. To do this, we will have to touch on geography and history.
Botanists number about 80 species of nasturtiums (Tropaeolum). All of them are natives of South America. Among them are not only ornamental plants. For example, tuberous nasturtium (T. tuberosum), common in the mountains of Chile and southern Colombia, forms edible tubers rich in starch on the roots (locally, maca, mayua, mashua). Europeans got acquainted with nasturtium a long time ago, back in the 16th century. The first nasturtiums brought to Europe were called Indian cress (in English Indian cress), because, as travelers reported, the Indians used fresh all parts of this plant - leaves, stems, buds, flowers and fruits. Over time, the Europeans successfully introduced this green into their menu, and since their diet already had one watercress (Nasturtium officinale, or in English water cress), similarly, the South American vegetable received a Latin name similar to the old watercress - nasturtium (Nasturtium indicum, or N. peruvianum). And so the modern nasturtium was born.
And what is surprising: later, botanists, of course, realized that these plants had nothing in common, except for food qualities, and they divided them into different families. Watercress turned out to be among the cruciferous, nasturtium - among the nasturtiums, and her Latin name appeared different - Tropaeolum, but the original name was still preserved in everyday life, although she wears it illegally. The real owner of this name - watercress - as if abandoned it in favor of a foreigner. By the way, watercress is now most often called a completely different plant than before - Lepidium sativum - cruciferous, originally from North Africa.
Such a phenomenon - the transition of the name from one plant to another - is far from being so rare. Here is another example that also concerns a garden dweller - levkoy (Mattiola annua). These relatively undersized annuals from the cruciferous family, they are suitable for both bouquets and border planting. They bloom for a long time, sometimes continuously for two and a half months. And the colors and shades are very different: golden yellow, dark purple, yellowish pink, pinkish lilac ... We deliberately started this enumeration to report that levkoy, known back in Ancient Greece(Leucojon), meaning "white-violet". The whole palette of his current colors was artificially created by man, using as a basis white-colored plants with a slight lilac tint, which are found wildly in the Mediterranean. However, despite such a long and brilliant origin, the levkoy, like nasturtium, the impostor also bears his name illegally. And a real levkoy should be called a white flower (in Latin Leucojum) - an early spring bulbous plant from the Amaryllis family. In our country, it is rare - only in the west of Ukraine, in the Caucasus and in the Crimea. Its single snow-white flowers hang like small drops of milk on pedicels. This plant is graceful, beautiful, but few people know it and, it seems, out of modesty gave way to its name.
The bright red and burgundy berries of American Phytolacca are sometimes used for coloring. food products, but red paint can be made from their juice for other purposes. After all, the very name of this plant, as it were, speaks of its use. Phyton means plant in Greek, lakh means lacquer in Hindi. So, vegetable varnish, vegetable paint. And in fact, it turns out that the word lakh is used only to refer to paint extracted from ... insects! So it turns out an incompatible complex "vegetable paint from insects."
In the chapter on cosmetic plants, the red rouge (Echium rubrum) is mentioned. Here it is appropriate to mention one more of her names: a red bruise. It sounds very funny: the generic name indicates the color blue, the species name indicates red. Who to believe? It turns out both. In the genus Echium, the vast majority of species (and there are about forty in total) have blue flowers. The blush, with its red root and red flowers, is an exception, but, as a full member of the genus Echium, it cannot be deprived of a generic name, although it does not really suit it.
Amazing fruits gives rise to cocoa - a chocolate tree. And they hang not on the branches, but right on the thick trunk. Somewhat resembling in shape the swollen fruits of sweet pepper, but only 1.5–2 times larger, they contain oval grains that look like large beans and are immersed in a sweet-sour pulp that fills all five nests of the fruit. After a special fermentation and drying, the seeds (cocoa beans) are sent to confectionery factories. The primary product obtained from them - a paste called "bitter chocolate", contains up to 35 percent fat and, after adding sugar to it, becomes one of the most nutritious foods of plant origin. Not without reason, in ancient times, the Aztecs prepared a delicious and nutritious drink called chocolatl, which successfully turned into our chocolate.
Having an extremely high opinion of the amazing properties of this drink, Linnaeus included the cocoa tree in the genus Theobroma (theos in Greek - god, broma - food). However, an interesting incident arose. A more detailed study of the genus Theobroma turned out that it also includes species with tasteless fruits, and one with completely inedible ones. Here is the "food of the gods" for you! The issue was resolved, one might say, with one stroke of the pen: Linnaeus singled out the inedible species in a separate genus Abroma, driving it out of food products with the negation particle “a”. So the royal abroma (Abroma augusta) was born - let the kings eat what is inedible for the gods. And if we are talking about cocoa, then we will notice that its name arose long before the appearance of strangers on the American continent. It just sounded a little different before - cocoaacuahuitl. For a European language, it is somewhat difficult, so they began to get by with a shortened version.
The translation of the Latin name for chingil or chemysh - Halimodendron - a seaside tree, turns out to be rather strange. Meanwhile, Chingil lives in the waterless deserts of Central and Central Asia. What the famous botanist Fisher meant by giving such a name is unclear. Maybe the salt marshes on which chingil grows reminded him of the salty sea coasts?
In the practice of floriculture, a plant with the complex name mesembryanthemum (Mesembrianthemum), which is usually trying to translate as noon or afternoon, is increasingly beginning to appear. Bright red and pink flowers open, as was believed, only in sunny weather, and at dusk and on cloudy days they are closed. hallmark- love of light - was taken into account when the plant was given its Latin name in 1684 (mesembria - noon, anthemon - flower). But then it turned out that there are (and in quite a large number) species that bloom not only during the day, but also at night. The former name was rejected, subsequently offering the current edition - Mesembryanthemum. The difference is small: the letter "i" is replaced by the letter "y", but the meaning is completely different. Mesos - Greek middle, embryon - embryo, ovary. The median position of the ovary is the feature that now explains the name. Probably, the Russian translation should also be changed, but try to create a sufficiently capacious, simple, correct and harmonious name!
Or such controversial names. Aquilegia (Aquilegia) - plants with original flowers. Each petal of the corolla is a funnel cut obliquely, continuing in the form of a more or less long, sometimes hooked spur. Along with Latin, Russian names also exist in floriculture, mainly catchment and orlik. The origin of both is quite understandable: both of them are translations of the same Latin phrase, although they have nothing in common in meaning. And yet there is a reason. Latin aqua - water and legere - to collect - the basis of the first translation. And the explanation is logical: water (dew, raindrops) accumulate in the spurs of flowers, unless, of course, they are drooping, as is often the case. The second translation owes its origin to the Latin Aquila - an eagle. Perhaps something in common is noticed in the shape of this bird's beak and curved spurs. Be that as it may, the question arises: what to give preference to? Usually in Russian, aquilegia is usually called a catchment area. But here's what's interesting. Medieval herbalists call this plant differently - Aquileia (Aquileia). Consequently, it became an aquilegia, or, if you like, a catchment area relatively recently, and earlier, apparently, it had the basis of its name not water, but an eagle.
One can be surprised and argue about the variety of different interpretations of the same names. For example, raspberries. It would seem that the word is originally Russian, but there is also an assumption according to which the name is given by the color of the berries. But for what? Indeed, in the genus raspberry (Rubus), the coloring of berries, or rather complex drupes, is very different: from actually raspberry to almost black (in blackberries) and waxy yellow (in cloudberries). This is where scientists argue. Some believe that the basis is black (from the ancient Indian malinas - black), others rely on the Breton melen - yellowish, and finally, others prefer the Latin mulleus - reddish. In a word, how many colors, so many opinions.
For some, it remains a mystery why the Latin name for celery Apium comes from the Greek apex, which means the top, top and even the back of the head. Without knowing the specific historical circumstances, you can build a variety of assumptions. And the explanation is very simple and accurate: in ancient times, the winners of the Nemean Games, which were held in Greece, in Argolis, in between other, larger Olympic ones, were crowned with celery leaves, now common table greens. Wreaths were made from celery and placed on the heads (that's where the apex came from!) outstanding athletes. The famous 11th-century physician Odo from the French city of Mena left us the book “On the Properties of Herbs”, which describes 77 plants, including 12 aromatic and spicy ones, among which a whole chapter is devoted to celery. It describes the ancient ritual mentioned above and specifies:
The first to crown himself with such an award,
There was, they say, Alcides, and the descendants kept the custom ...
It is interesting that in Russia celery first appeared not as a food seasoning. Under Catherine II, it could be seen again on the heads of the courtiers. However, this is not the only vegetable used for such purposes. The remarkable engraving by A. Durer "Melancholy" depicts an allegorical figure of a woman in a wreath, which is woven from ... watercress (Nasturtium officinale).
Now let's turn to citrus. What can be common between them and cedar? They're very different. Then why is the fragrant lemon peel - zest - so consonant with cedar? The easiest way to explain this is by simple coincidence. However, let's try to figure it out.
With citrus fruits, or rather, first with a lemon, Europeans met, apparently, in the 4th century BC, during the campaigns of Alexander the Great in Asia. And the name itself is found for the first time in descriptions of Palestine made in the 13th century: “Besides, there are other trees that produce sour fruits with a pungent taste: they are called lemons; their juice is enjoyed with pleasure in the summer with meat and fish, as it is cold and dries out the palate, and excites the appetite.” However, even earlier, it is mentioned in the Chinese chronicles of the 12th century, which describes the fruit of the “limung”, which was brought to China from other countries. The Greeks and Romans knew it under the name malus midica - the Median apple (that is, from the Asia Minor province of Media). Later, this name turned into malus medica - a medical apple, and the original meaning was distorted.
Here we will interrupt the story about citruses for the moment and turn to cedars. We emphasize, to true cedars, because in our country the Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), which gives delicious "pine nuts", is often mistakenly considered a cedar. There are four types of real cedars in botany, of which the Atlas, Cypriot and Lebanese are found in the Mediterranean, and only one - the Himalayan - has a geographically isolated area of \u200b\u200bdistribution from them. In general, this designation comes from the Greek name given tree- kedros. When moving from Greece to the Apennine Peninsula, it turned into cedrus (Cedrus). Mediterranean cedars, especially the Lebanese cedar, have long been valued for their yellowish-brown, durable, rotting and fragrant wood. It was used to build houses, ships, furniture, and smaller crafts. Chests were especially famous for storing clothes, which acquired a pleasant resinous smell in them and did not suffer from moths at all.
It is on this soil that the union of citrus and cedar takes place. For various kinds of fragrances, the Romans used both lemon peel and cedar wood. Hence, by the similarity of the application, the peel is called the zest, and the fruits that give the zest are called citruses. Malus medica becomes citrus medica. Its current name, accepted by modern botanists - Citrus limon - again resurrects the ancient Arabic roots of lemon.
Another pair of historically related names: hyacinth (Hyacinthus) and gladiolus (Gladiolus). Outwardly, they cannot be confused: a relatively undersized and small-colored hyacinth and a long-stemmed large-flowered gladiolus with hard xiphoid leaves. And they belong to different families: the first to lily, the second to iris (iris).
The first of the plants under consideration, as the ancient Greek myth tells, was created by Apollo from drops of the blood of his favorite Hyacinth that fell to the ground. Poetic and beautiful, isn't it? However, digressing from the mythological imagery, it is worth making two significant remarks. The ancient Greeks, apparently, were not familiar with those flowers that we now call hyacinths. They appeared in culture in Europe only at the end of the 16th century. Their real homeland is Western and Central Asia. And then: from the drops of Hyacinth's blood, most likely a plant with red flowers could grow. Meanwhile, the natural color of wild hyacinths is blue, blue or lilac. Other colors were obtained in culture only relatively recently. The conclusion suggests itself: the ancient Greeks called hyacinth a completely different plant than we do. What is it? According to various descriptions that have come down to us in the works of ancient literature, it can be assumed that this name referred to a wild gladiolus, most likely to the Byzantine gladiolus growing in Greece (Gladiolus bysanthinus).
Now a few words about the gladiolus, whose name in Latin means "little sword" - in the form of its hard, upright sharp flat leaves. It's popular garden plant has a complex history. The first large-flowered gladioli apparently came to Europe from southern Africa in the second half of the 17th century. However, they could only be grown under glass: they did not bloom in open ground - there was not enough heat. And only in 1841, the director of the botanical garden in Brussels, the famous breeder van Houtt, received the ancestor of modern large-colored gladiolus - the Ghent gladiolus (Gladiolus gandavensis), which is a complex hybrid of several African species (small-colored European and African did not cross). The very same name "gladiolus" appeared much earlier. It was first mentioned by the poet of the 9th century Walafrid Strabo in the already mentioned poem "Sadik". And what is most interesting: the plant described by Strabo is not at all like a wild gladiolus. It is rather an ordinary iris or iris. These are the links that connect not even two, but three popular garden crops: hyacinth, gladiolus and iris.
And again, we repeat that the cases of the transition of the name from one plant to another are quite frequent. The first taxonomists strove to preserve ancient names even though many of them had no application, so to speak. One could only guess what plants they belonged to. These names were assigned to newly discovered and described species, obviously unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Examples of the transfer of such names have already been given in the chapter "Mysteries of the Past".
But there was another way of changing names, which is associated with the hard work of copyists of scientific treatises and herbal reference books. Mistakes made due to negligence or poor command of Latin were catastrophically layered on top of each other, distorting the meaning and unrecognizably changing the names of plants. Often, when copying texts, the names of different types were inadvertently interchanged. Thus arose what is designated by the term "barbarian Latin", that is, illiterate Latin.
Here are some examples of such "relocation" of names. Peanuts (Arachis) - grassy leguminous plant whose delicious nuts have become a popular treat. Peanuts are widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the entire globe, including relatively small areas in our country: in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, in southern Ukraine, in the Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not know the peanut, since its homeland is South America, and it came to Europe through China and South Asia only a few centuries ago. Meanwhile, this name itself existed in ancient times, but meant a completely different, but also, apparently, a leguminous plant.
The Greeks also did not know prickly pear - an American cactus with prickly stems flattened like cakes. In ancient times, some plants that were found in the vicinity of the city of Opus (otherwise Oponte) were called prickly pear. One of the provinces of Greece is named after this city - Opuntskaya or eastern Locris, adjacent to the Malian and Euboean bays of the Aegean Sea. By the way, all cacti, most of which are found in tropical America, with their characteristic thorns, fleshy stems and leaves, were unknown to ancient naturalists, although the word cactus itself has existed since ancient times. It defined many thorny plants Greece. In Theophrastus, for example, the prickly artichoke (Cynara scolymus) was called kaktos.
The same applies to the well-known thuja shrub. It does not grow wild in the Mediterranean, its area of \u200b\u200bdistribution is East Asia and North America. However, just thuja is found among ancient Greek authors who are not familiar with either China and Japan, and even more so with the American continent. Just by this name in those distant times certain types of junipers were determined.
We will talk about the origin of the name "potato", but for now we note that in the 16th century it penetrated Europe in two ways: through Spain and through England and Ireland. The first path gave rise to the familiar designation of this culture, and the second led to the emergence of English - potato. This name is interesting in that it arose erroneously, but due to tradition it was still preserved. And it happened in the following way.
It is believed that the first potato tubers were brought to England from the American island of Roanoke, located off the coast of the modern state of Virginia, by an English admiral (he is also a famous pirate) Francis Drake. But long before that, among European botanists there were rumors about the existence in warm countries of a plant that gives large starchy tubers of a sweet taste, which the locals call sweet potato. The tubers brought by Drake were described as sweet potato tubers and were unconditionally called by this name, which in English sounded like potato. In the meantime, potatoes have grown out of them.
Let's make a reservation right away: sweet potato and potatoes are very different plants. Here is an image of a potato from the book of the English botanist Gerard, published at the end of the 16th century (Fig. 14). The inscription on it reads batata virginiana - virginian sweet potato. And here is an image of a real sweet potato Ipomoca batatas (Fig. 15). Potato belongs to the nightshade family, sweet potato belongs to the bindweed family. Everyone knows what a potato looks like. Sweet potato, on the other hand, is a creeping herbaceous plant, the tubers of which are formed not on elongated stolons, like those of a potato, but on a stem, at nodes in contact with the ground. And if in potatoes the tubers are modified stems, then in sweet potato they become thickened adventitious roots. Yes, and in shape they are noticeably different from potato ones: usually narrower, spindle-shaped, often pointed.
They would never have been confused if there had been a person in England at that time who had seen both of them before. But there was no one to compare, and the potato in the English language remains sweet potato to this day. Subsequently, however, botanists tried, if not to correct, then somewhat smooth over the mistake by introducing the term "sweet potato" (sweet potato) to distinguish between these two plants, at least in the names. In addition, according to some researchers, the confusion was facilitated by the fact that, along with potatoes, Drake brought, apparently, also sweetish, similar in taste to sweet potatoes, earthen pear tubers - Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus).
Now about errors and misunderstandings of a somewhat different kind - geographical ones. The father of systematics, Carl Linnaeus, who personally discovered and described about one and a half thousand species, scrupulously studied the details of the structure of plants. Modern botanists still resort to Linnean (more than 200 years old!) descriptions to clarify the definition of a particular species. But the geographical knowledge of the great scientist, alas, left much to be desired, which led to very obvious blunders.
Well, for example, Linnaeus called the wolf's bast shrub sent from China Indian (Daphne indica), and in the descriptions of Chinese bluegrass (Poa chinensis), Chinese succession (Bideus chinensis), orange, which in Latin was called Chinese citrus (Citrus sinensis), homeland indicates only India. In the XVIII century, it was quite well known about the existence of two Indies: the East Indies (combining the territory of modern India and some other countries of South and Southeast Asia) and the West Indies (which included islands lying in the Atlantic Ocean between North and South America). For Linnaeus, such a division did not seem to exist, which is why, say, Indian bent grass (Agrostis indica), which actually lives on the islands of the Caribbean Sea, thousands of kilometers from real India, was born. And since for almost half of his Chinese and Indian plants Linnaeus did not name the collectors who sent him herbarium material, it is very difficult to determine by name alone whether this plant is really Chinese, Indian or Latin American. But the confusion was not limited to these regions. The Peruvian scilla (Scilla peruviana) turned out to be living ... in the Mediterranean, the weeping Babylonian willow (Salix babylonica) is by no means from Babylon, but apparently from China.
Botanists who worked before Linnaeus did not get along with geography either. Today, any student, without hesitation, will name the homeland of corn - America. And for the first time this culture appeared in Europe under the name Turcicum frumentum - "Turkish grain". So it is also called on the image in the book of the German botanist Leonhard Fuchs published in 1542 (Fig. 16). And why is hard to explain. After all, even earlier, presenting information about distant American lands, Spanish travelers described in detail the culture and use of corn (maize) and even mentioned religious ceremonies using its grain. It would seem that there is no doubt from where it entered Europe. And half a century later, the English botanist J. Gerard, who studied in detail as many as eight cultural forms of corn, comes to the conclusion about ... the low taste and nutritional properties of its grain. And he calls it Frumentum indicum - Indian grain (possibly referring to the West Indies), but translates this name into English again as Turkish grain (Turkie wheate).
Even earlier, geographical confusion occurred with buckwheat. Now botanists agree that this field culture originates from India. When, in the second half of the 15th century, it appeared in Western and Central Europe, it was dubbed the same as later corn, Turkish and even Saracen grain.
This name indirectly indicates the ways of penetration of buckwheat to the west. It is assumed that they ran through Asia Minor and Transcaucasia - territories that had strong ties with ancient India.
Systematists can point out many later and even very recent geographical curiosities in plant names. They arose in different ways: there are mixed up labels, and negligence in design, and simply too little awareness of the author of the description.
Often found in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Asia Minor, the medlar - a shrub with sour fruits - is mistakenly designated German (Mespilus germanica), although it is absent in German floras. In the Crimea, you can meet the Daurian peony, which, despite the name, is not known in Far East and in Eastern Siberia. And just the original local native lily for some reason is called Pennsylvania (Lilium pensylvanicum). And there are quite a few such examples.
Continuing our mental journey through time and space, let's go back to 1815, to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and try to imagine an interesting scene, very vividly described by I. I. Pushchin. “As now, I see that afternoon class of Koshansky, when, having finished the lecture a little before the school hour, the professor said: “Now, gentlemen, let's try feathers! Describe the rose to me in verse, please ... "Our poems did not stick at all, and Pushkin immediately read ... quatrains that delighted us all ... "
Here is what was born then under the pen of a young lyceum student:
Where is our rose
My friends?
withered rose,
Dawn child.
Do not say:
So wither youth!
Do not say:
Is this the joy of life?
Tell the flower
I'm sorry!
And to the lily
Point us.
A lovely, elegant impromptu. Two flowers - a rose and a lily. More precisely - a lily, as it was customary to say in the old days.
The clarification is important, because the lily (Lilaea) comes from ... from the highlands of North and South America. Not a lily, but a lily. As it was called by the French botanist E. Bonpland and the German naturalist A. Humboldt in 1808. Making inquiries about this plant shows that it is unusual, literally one of a kind. The genus lily, in turn, is the only one in a very small family.
But in Russian there are two families that have exactly the same names - lily. In the first (Liliaceae) - very numerous and well-known - such popular plants as tulips, lilies of the valley, hyacinths, and finally, the lilies themselves. In the second (Lilaeaceae) - extremely limited, which only experts know about - is the only genus with a single species. Meanwhile, it can rightly be called the liliaceae family, and for a large “namesake” family, the name liliaceae would probably be better suited. But tradition is tradition, and now we have two families with the same Russian name side by side. By the way, they are close and systematic - both belong to the class of monocots.
But what about the young Pushkin's lily? Most likely, this is a mere coincidence: the poet did not know about the existence of a small American flower with a gentle and sonorous name and spoke of a lily familiar to everyone.
Returning to the title of this section, let's say again that both nasturtium and many other plants are called by their names by mistake. But in this case, these are errors that are hardly worth correcting ...
