This tree can reach a height of thirty meters. It has a spherical crown. The trunk of a linden tree reaches 80 centimeters in diameter; it is covered with dark gray bark with a large number of longitudinal cracks. The leaves of the plant are sharp-serrated, heart-shaped and grow alternately. From below they are gray-green, from above they are much darker. Young linden leaves have stipules that simply fall off over time. Linden blooms in a small yellow color, collected in half-umbrellas facing up.

Linden fruits are gray oval nuts that contain one or more seeds. Linden is usually blooming in July. But climate changes in recent years lead to the fact that the plant can bloom a little earlier. The duration of the entire flowering period of linden is up to two and a half weeks. But the fruits of the plant ripen in August-September. By the way, linden begins to bear fruit only at the age of twenty.

This plant can be found in Europe and the Caucasus, in the Ukraine and in western Siberia, in the Urals. The tree prefers fertile soils, broad-leaved forests, forming plantations mixed with other species.

It should be noted that the linden tree is very attractive to bees, and linden honey is a classic of beekeeping.

Procurement and storage

For a long time in Russia, mainly linden flowers, that is, inflorescences with a bracts, were used for medicinal purposes. They were always collected when the tree was blooming. This is what they do today. But be sure to pay attention to those flowers that are affected by rust, leaf beetle, blackened from the rain. Such specimens are not collected as medicinal raw materials. Linden blossom is dried in different ways. This can be done in attics and under awnings. Sometimes the linden color is simply laid out in the room, covering it with paper on top. You can also use the fastest way to prepare medicinal raw materials - drying in electric dryers. To do this, the flowers are laid out in an even thin layer and make sure that the temperature in the dryer does not exceed 50 degrees. The readiness of linden blossom for medicinal purposes is its fragility. You can store raw materials in paper bags, linen bags (the fabric must be natural), cardboard boxes. Linden blossom is stored no longer than two years. After this time, the raw material loses a significant part of its healing properties.

If we talk about the collection of linden buds, then this is done in spring and always in dry weather. Drying of this lime raw material is usually carried out in an electric dryer at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius. Linden buds, like the color, are stored for two years.

Sometimes linden bark is also prepared. This is done in early spring, before the blossoming of the tree, or at the end of autumn. The bark is dried only in electric dryers, and then the resulting raw materials are stored for no longer than three years.

Household use

Linden wood is actively used in everyday life. It is used to make joinery in the form of dishes and tubs, bee hives and drawing boards. Since linden wood sawdust contains a lot of starch, they are pre-crushed and used as a feed additive for livestock.

Another area of ​​domestic use of linden is the production of high quality coal. Bast (the inner part of the linden bark) is used to make matting and mats, washcloths and wickerwork.

Linden is a wonderful honey plant. That is why hives are placed next to linden plantations.

You should know that earlier in Russia linden blossom was used instead of tea. Today this is less common, but the aromatization of alcoholic beverages with linden is very popular nowadays. Vegetarians eat young linden leaves.

Composition and medicinal properties

Traditional medicine has long been using drugs based on linden inflorescences. They have the properties to normalize the secretory function of the stomach and activate the production of bile, facilitating its entry into the duodenum. Linden inflorescences have a diaphoretic effect and a sedative effect on the central nervous system. They reduce the viscosity of the blood. Linden blossom infusions have long been used as an anti-inflammatory agent. They accelerate the regenerative and regenerative processes in the body.

Linden blossom is used as a pain reliever and emollient. Phytotherapists advise people with pulmonary tuberculosis to consume coal, which is obtained after burning linden wood. A powder based on this charcoal is recommended as a medicine for those suffering from belching, flatulence, and diarrhea.

Linden tar is an effective treatment for skin and eczema in particular.

A decoction of linden bark is used to treat burns and treat hemorrhoids. With the help of this decoction, gout is also treated. But the mucus from the bark of the linden tree effectively copes with wounds and cuts, sores on the skin.

Linden bark is also a cure for erysipelas. Powder of crushed dried linden bark is sprinkled on these inflammations.

Crushed linden buds are used for furunculosis and mastitis. Vitamin drinks are prepared from linden leaves. A decoction of the inflorescences of the plant is used as a diaphoretic for colds, as well as as a gargle for tonsillitis.

Homeopathic remedies using linden raw materials are prescribed for digestive disorders. Decoctions and infusions of linden inflorescences are the best folk remedies in the treatment of colds. Cold linden infusion rejuvenates the skin, makes it velvety.

The use of linden in traditional medicine: recipes

Linden blossom is one of the most ancient remedies in the collection of traditional medicine. Use these recipes to make sure linden is effective as a medicinal plant:

1. Tincture in the treatment of colds and headaches. Chop two tablespoons of dried linden flowers. Next, they should be poured with a glass of boiling water and covered with a lid for 40 minutes. After filtration, you need to drink the composition twice or three times in a glass a day. The same remedy is used for tonsillitis as a throat rinse.
2. Decoction of inflorescences with expectorant effect. Combine one tablespoon of dry linden inflorescences with 300 grams of water and boil for 5 minutes. Cool it down. Filter. Take warm several times a day.
3. Broth to lower the temperature. You should take equal amounts of peppermint, black elderflower and lime blossom. All herbs are mixed, and one tablespoon of this collection is poured with 400 grams of water. The healing potion is boiled for 2-3 minutes, and then immediately filtered. This broth should be drunk hot, 200 grams.
4. Asthma treatment. Take a few aloe leaves, 20 grams of birch buds and the same number of linden blossoms. Pour this herbal mixture with half a liter of water and boil for 3-4 minutes. Insist 15 minutes, filter, add a glass of lime honey and 200 grams of brandy. Mix everything thoroughly. This remedy for asthma should be consumed 4-5 times a day, two tablespoons.
5. Decoction of flowers in the treatment of urolithiasis. Take three tablespoons of lime blossom, pour half a liter of water over it, boil for 5 minutes. The product must be cooled completely and taken 200 grams twice a day.
6. Treatment of tuberculosis with linden blossom and honey. Brew a glass of boiling water over a tablespoon of lime blossom and birch buds. Let the healing liquid infuse for 40 minutes. Next, filter the product and add two tablespoons of honey, chopped aloe leaves in the amount of 3 pieces to it. Take this remedy for tuberculosis should be three or four times a day, two tablespoons.
7. Stomach ulcer treatment. It is necessary to take equal proportions of linden blossom, fennel fruits and chamomile flowers. After mixing, two tablespoons of this herbal collection are poured with 500 grams of water and boiled over low heat for 5 minutes. Next, the liquid must be infused for half an hour. Filter. You need to use it before each meal for 30 minutes for ½ cup.
8. Tincture for gargling with sore throat. Prepare a tablespoon of linden flowers and the same amount of chamomile. Give them a glass boiling water and wait 30 minutes. The product is filtered and used as a gargle when warm.
9. Tincture in the treatment of hemorrhoids. You need to take 50 grams of linden blossom, pour half a liter of boiling water and leave for 30 minutes. Next, the steamed warm raw material should be put in gauze and applied to the anus for 10 minutes. Such compresses for hemorrhoids are applied at least twice a day. The course of treatment is 10 days.

Contraindications for use

Description of linden

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On a hot summer day, a whole swarm of bees hums around the flowering linden. Linden blooms later than all other trees, in late June and early July, and if there is no wind, a thick aroma envelops the tree.

Linden flowers give off a large amount of nectar. For a day, a broadleaf linden flower gives it 2.3 mg, therefore Linden and is considered the best honey plant. Linden honey appreciated above all other varieties. It is believed that this is an excellent medicine for colds, as well as an infusion of dried linden flowers.

In winter, among the trees, linden is easy to distinguish by the fruits that remain on the branches for the winter. Fertility linden trees(in summer - inflorescence) has a bracts, which serves as a sail for linden nut. These nuts are eagerly eaten and, but they are dragged into their pantries, where they happen to sprout.

Fruit linden trees fall from a tree throughout the winter, and in a blizzard they often rush above the ground along with snow. They never germinate in the first year. To do this, they need a long cooling period. Over the centuries, these trees have adapted to the cold and cannot develop normally without it. Ground linden fruits can be substituted, edible oil can be squeezed out of them.

Linden- a beautiful tree with a dense dense crown. It is always cool in its shade, therefore linden alleys often led to old noble estates. And the linden itself feels good in the shade, unlike and. She is a good roommate for. If there is a linden tree nearby,

Linden family - Tiliaceae

The generic name comes from the Greek teleia - linden, as Virgil, Ovid, Pliny and other Roman authors called it. Apparently, the name is associated with the word ptilon - wing, feather, due to the fact that the peduncles have a winged bracts. The specific definition comes from the Latin cor (genitive cordis) - heart.

Botanical description... Deciduous tree up to 25-30 m high with black cracking bark and a spherical spreading crown. Young twigs are reddish-brown with small lenticels. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, cordate with a serrated edge. Young leaves have stipules, which then fall off. Above, the leaves are green, glabrous, grayish-green below with bunches of delicate reddish-yellow hairs in the corners of large veins, and especially at the base of the leaf. The flowers are yellowish-white, fragrant, collected in 5-15 in drooping dichasia (half-umbels). The bract leaf is flipped, grows together with the common peduncle with its vein in its lower part. The bract is yellowish-green in color, lanceolate with a blunt apex. The flowers are regular, with a double perianth of five sepals and five petals. There are many stamens, accreted in five bunches, one pistil with an upper pubescent unilocular ovary. Fruits are slightly pubescent or bare globular nuts with tasty seeds.

Blooms in late June or early July, bloom is plentiful almost every year. The fruits ripen in August - September.

In the western regions of Ukraine, flat-leaved or large-leaved linden, Tilia plathyphyllos Scop, is found and used in landscaping cities and other settlements. Its leaves are often larger, the hairs in the corners of the veins are light, and the flowers in the inflorescences are 3-9. Pear-shaped nuts. Blooms a little later.

Geographic distribution. Grows in the zone of deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests. It is found in the middle and southern part of the European territory, in Western Siberia to the right bank of the lower reaches of the Irtysh. Usually grows in a mixture with other species, especially oak. Pure linden forests are represented only in the southern Cis-Urals, and in other regions of the country they have a small area. So, linden forests are found only in the Mogilev region.

Collection and drying. Collect linden inflorescences with bracts at the moment when most of them have blossomed, and the rest are in the budding stage. At a later harvest during drying, the flowers turn brown and an increased grinding is formed when the raw materials are packed. Avoid collecting inflorescences with bracts affected by leaf beetles, which eat the flesh of the leaf, leaving veins. Collect flowers, cutting them off with their hands, from the inclined lower branches. The upper branches with an abundance of flowers are often cut off by loppers, and then the inflorescences are cut off in the shade. In no case should you chop down large shoots, break branches. Recently in settlements when collecting raw materials, now they often "use car lifts. Of course, the cost of raw materials in this case increases, but the trees do not suffer at all and much more raw materials are collected. This technique should be popularized. Collecting linden blossom along the highways should not.

The collected flowers are loosely folded into baskets, in no case tamped, and delivered to drying.

Raw materials are dried in the shade, in attics, under awnings, in rooms with good ventilation or in dryers at a temperature of 40-45 °. Flowers turn up 2-3 times during the day. Drying is considered complete at the moment when the flower stalks become brittle. Dried raw materials are poured into open boxes or raked into a heap and left in the room for 2-3 days and only after that they are packed in bales, keels or bags.

Medicinal raw materials. Finished raw materials - linden flowers - Flores Tiliae - corymbose inflorescences of 5-15 flowers (in the heart-shaped linden) and 3-9 flowers (in the flat-leaved linden). Blooming flowers predominate, but buds and single unripe fruits are found. Bracts are yellowish-green or light green, about 6 cm long, about 1.5 cm wide, whole-edged, elongated-lanceolate, obtuse at the apex, fused at the bottom up to half the length along the midrib with a peduncle. Flowers about 1 cm in diameter, yellowish. The smell is aromatic, the taste is sweet.

Art. 274 GF X and GOST 6518-69 allow: moisture not more than 13%; inflorescences with bracts damaged by pests and having rusty spots, no more than 2%; inflorescences with yellow or brown bracts or blackened flowers not more than 4%; linden leaves and shoots no more than 1%; completely faded inflorescences with fruits no more than 2%; crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 3 mm, no more than 3%; individual flowers or inflorescences without bracts not more than 15%; organic impurity no more than 0.3%; mineral - no more than 0.1%.

Chemical composition... Linden flowers contain 0.05% essential oil, the carrier of the pleasant smell of which is the aliphatic sesquiterpene alcohol farnesol; glycosides (hesperidin and tiliacin), saponins, tannins, coumarin fraxin, carotene, vitamin C, etc.

Medicinal raw materials in scientific medicine are flowers, in folk medicine - flowers, leaves, buds, fruits and young bark. The collection of flowers is carried out together with filmy bracts. Harvesting during rain or dew is not allowed. Flowers are dried in the shade in the air or in dryers at a temperature of 40-45 degrees. Shelf life is 2 years.

Linden flowers contain essential oil (0.05%), tiliacin glycoside, tannins, wax, hesperidin, sugar, mucus, vitamin C, carotene. The leaves contain phytoncides.

In medical practice, linden blossom has long been used as a diaphoretic. Infusion of flowers is recommended for rinsing the mouth, throat in case of inflammatory diseases (tonsillitis). Linden blossom is part of the diaphoretic collection (tea) in equal amounts with raspberries.

They use a hot broth or infusion of linden flowers at night for coughs, colds, headaches, throat pains, croup, abdominal pain, rheumatism, fainting, pneumonia, as an anti-measles agent. The boiled young linden bark gives a lot of mucus and is used to treat burns, gout, hemorrhoids. A decoction of fresh flowers is used internally for cuts in the urethra (mixed with sage grass), the presence of sand in the urine. In addition, linden blossom preparations are successfully used internally for measles, mumps, convulsions. Crushed fresh buds or fresh leaves are used locally as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic and emollient for burns, inflammation of the mammary glands and other inflammatory processes. Crushed lime charcoal from dried wood is drunk 1 teaspoon with goat's milk for pulmonary tuberculosis; dry distillation products (tar) lubricate areas affected by eczema.

Outwardly, linden fruits are used in the form of a powder or pounded in vinegar for bleeding from wounds, nose, mouth, etc.; crushed buds or leaves are used as an emollient for abscesses; and cambium is recommended for burns. Leaves are applied to the boil.

Recipes

Broth 1: 1 tbsp. a spoon of finely chopped flowers is brewed in a glass of boiling water, infused for 20 minutes and filtered; use 1-2 cups at night (as a diaphoretic), add 5.0 g of purified soda to a glass of broth for rinsing.

Broth 2: 2 tbsp. Brew spoons of flowers like tea in 2 glasses of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, strain and drink 2-3 glasses hot overnight (diaphoretic) for convulsions, nervous diseases, sand in urine, mumps, measles, as an analgesic and soothing.

Broth 3: 1 tbsp. spoon in a glass of boiling water, brew like tea, rinse with tonsillitis, pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

Note. Coal produced from linden wood is also used in folk and scientific medicine.

Potion: 2 tbsp. spoons of linden flowers, flaxseeds, unpeeled chopped pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, blackberry leaves, black elderberry flowers, St. John's wort and 1 tbsp. spoon of chamomile flowers. The mixture is mixed well and 4 tbsp is taken from it. spoons for 0.5 liters of water, brew, leave for 30-40 minutes, filter and squeeze; take 4 times a day one hour before meals.

Indications: linden flowers, or "linden blossom", are used as a diaphoretic and antipyretic agent for colds, gastritis. as well as for rinsing the mouth and throat. Linden charcoal is used for flatulence and diarrhea.

Infusion of small-leaved linden flowers with honey

Take 10 g of linden flowers (3 tablespoons) and pour 200 ml of boiling water in an enamel saucepan, close the lid and put in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, then let the infusion cool and strain it. Squeeze out the remaining raw materials. Bring the volume of the infusion to 200 ml with boiled water and dissolve 1 tbsp in it. a spoonful of honey.

Take in warm form 1 / 2-1 glass 2-3 times a day as a diaphoretic and antipyretic agent for colds.

Teas

Linden flowers have a diaphoretic, and hence antipyretic effect, which, apparently, is explained by the presence of the glycoside tiliacin. For this purpose, they are brewed like tea, at the rate of 1 tablespoon of chopped raw materials for 1 glass of boiling water; insist at least 20-30 minutes. Sweatshops are very popular among the people and have been used in household use since ancient times. In ancient Russia, it was believed that along with sweat, the disease “leaves” the body, and health “infiltrates”.

As a diaphoretic linden is prescribed internally. For the same purpose, diaphoretic tea with raspberries is used. Linden tea is also used with raspberry jam and honey.

Linden also has a disinfecting effect, so the infusion of flowers (tea) is used to rinse the mouth and throat. In this case, it is mixed with sage and chamomile equally. Brew 1 teaspoon in 1 glass of water.

Healing part: flowers.

Plant characteristic: tree with heart-shaped leaves. Fragrant flowers with bracts.

Lime tea:

1.1 h. Linden flowers for 1 tbsp. boiling water. Insist and drink like tea. A golden drink with a pleasant aroma, very tasty.

Healing properties: healing, diaphoretic, expectorant and anti-inflammatory effect.

2. 15 g (1 tbsp.) Of dried linden flowers per 200 ml of boiling water, leave for 10-15 minutes, drain, add 15 g of honey. Before steaming, the dried linden blossom is lightly toasted.

Healing properties: flu and other colds.

3. 2 tbsp .. flowers for 2 tbsp. boiling water, boil for 10 minutes, drain. Drink hot as tea at night.

Healing properties: the same.

4. Linden flowers and peppermint leaves - 1: 1, 1 tbsp. Collection for 1 tbsp. boiling water. Brew and drink like tea, 2-3 glasses a day hot.

Healing properties: the same.

Healing part: leaves.

Tea composition and method of preparation:

Fresh leaf tea: The crushed leaves are brewed and drunk like tea.

Healing properties: quenches thirst, relieves fatigue.

Linden flower bath treatment

The linden blossom bath eliminates insomnia, calms the nervous system, relieves skin irritation and inflammation, stimulates perspiration, cleansing the body of harmful metabolic products.

Linden baths are used in complex therapy for the treatment of obesity, but in this case, you will need a doctor's consultation.

To prepare the broth, you need to pour 1 glass of linden blossom with 2 liters of cold water and leave for 10 minutes. After that, bring the mixture to a boil and cook under a lid for no more than 7 minutes. Strain the finished broth and pour it into water at a temperature of 37 ° C. Bath time is 20 minutes. 6-7 procedures are enough for the course.

Scientists believe that the first lime trees appeared on our planet when dinosaurs still inhabited it. If a tree could speak, it would surely tell us about global warming and about the ice age, and about other significant historical events and cataclysms. A couple of centuries ago, under the shade of a tree, young ladies loved to meet their gentlemen, and thousands of lime trees growing in Paris remind descendants of the victory of the Great French Revolution. Since then, the linden tree has been a symbol of happiness, freedom and equality.

Today, this plant is represented by almost fifty species, most of which grow in the zone of broad-leaved and mixed forests North America and Eurasia, common linden is found here more often than others.

Description

In nature, linden can be found from the western slopes of the Ural Mountains to the eastern Carpathians, where linden and beech massifs begin to alternate.

The height of a deciduous tree is up to 40 meters, it is a long-liver; there are cases when the age of the tree was 600 years. It grows upright, can be with one trunk or several.

The plant appeared as a result of crossing of two types of linden - small-leaved and large-leaved, but in its properties it is more reminiscent of the first. Although there are differences - the tree blooms ten to fourteen days earlier, grows faster, adapts well to the conditions of the city, its crown is well cut and easy to shape. The shaping haircut is painless for the tree, and linden can tolerate it easily, so it is easy to care for it, even if you are a novice gardener.

Thanks to the large, heart-shaped leaves, and a beautiful, dense crown, the tree has a decorative appearance. Therefore, for more than one century, streets, boulevards have been greened with their help, it can be found in alleys and group plantings. It is equally beautiful in single plantings, in hedges, green tunnels. But a tree growing in shade and cramped conditions will have an ugly crown, it itself will be low, more like a fluffy bush than majestic relatives.

The plant has one more feature - fragrant flowers. The slender beauty blooms in mid-July and this lasts no more than two weeks. The description of the tree would not be complete if we did not remember what scent is in the air if linden is growing nearby. Large linden trees, fragrant with their flowering, love to visit bees, because its flowers are an excellent honey plant, and their honey has a whole range of useful properties. But, it will not be superfluous to find out that a planted tree will bloom only after thirty years, and that grown in nature - in the twentieth year.

Linden is an unpretentious and resistant to external influences plant that can withstand a temperature drop down to -48C, prolonged heat and lack of moisture. She is not afraid of diseases and pests.

The beneficial effect of the tree on the human body has long been known. Inflorescences, bark, branches and leaves have unique properties, preparations based on them are able to heal people from many diseases.

You want to plant a linden tree, then find out in what conditions it will be comfortable and how to do it correctly.

Planting a tree

Linden grows equally well in the shade and in the sun, its growth will not slow down, and the crown of the tree will be lush and beautiful. She has no preferences for soils, but still on sandstones containing humus, she will be more comfortable. Root system proximity groundwater can have a negative impact, drought is not terrible for adult trees, but regular watering is needed to grow young seedlings.

You can plant linden on open place, she is not afraid of drafts, and strong wind she is not afraid. The taproot penetrates deeply into the soil, so the plant "stands firmly on its feet." A hedge, thanks to its dense crown, will reliably protect your house and other buildings from the wind, but for such a linden planting to be effective, you will have to wait 20 or even 40 years.

When and how the plant reproduces

Linden can be grown from seed, cuttings, root shoots or cuttings. It is better to plant it in a hole filled with a mixture of one part of sod land, two parts of humus, the same amount of sand and soil acidity from 6.5 to 7.5 pH.

It is not enough to plant a tree correctly, in order to grow it, you need to know how to care for it.

Planting a linden tree with seeds

Small grains with one or two seeds appear in place of the faded fragrant flowers. The fruits are harvested when they turn brown, in the fall, or immediately after flowering. Brown seeds will germinate for a long time, up to two years, and unripe seeds germinate faster.

Let's say right away - planting with seeds is not an easy way, you will have to work hard, and most importantly, be patient, because it takes 10 or 12 years for a young tree to grow from seeds. If you can wait so long, then get down to business.

Stratification (cold treatment) for linden seeds is required, otherwise they will not please you with seedlings. The seeds should be in wet sand mixed with sawdust in a ratio of 1: 3 for six months. A box with a mixture of sand and sawdust, in which the seeds are buried two to three centimeters, is placed in a cold, dark place and the humidity is maintained by gently pouring from a watering can.

After stratification, the seeds are sown in the ground and observe how they germinate. Weak shoots are destroyed, and the strongest plants are transplanted to where they will grow in the future. In autumn, the "young" is sheltered from frost. Seedlings can also be grown in a greenhouse, planted in open ground, they adapt well to natural conditions... Linden feels good after transplantation at any age.

Planting by cuttings

This method is very simple, therefore it is especially popular among beginners. To guess the length and allow the cuttings to take root, it is recommended to grow cuttings in greenhouse conditions.

It is best to do this in the fall, on a cool, damp day. The seedlings are cut, before that you need to take care of the hole and the potting mix. The depth and diameter of the fossa must be at least 50 centimeters. Pebbles or broken brick can be used as drainage, the layer of which must be at least 15 centimeters thick. From above, humus mixed with superphosphate is poured in a palm-thick layer. A seedling is lowered and everything is covered with a mixture of turf soil, humus and sand in a ratio of 1: 2: 2.

Try not to deepen the root collar, although this is not fundamentally important for linden. The next stage is abundant watering, for this, check if you have forgotten about the near-stem hole and after that get ready to make regular fertilizing, at least in the first two years.

Take care of feeding, which will help the cuttings adapt to new conditions. Buy nitrogen fertilizers in the store, and if this is not possible, make them yourself - dissolve a mullein (1 kg) in a bucket of water, let it brew, and do three feeding in a week. After that, you do not need to fertilize so often, just three times per summer is enough.

Planting stem and root layers

The best time for working with layering - a damp and cool spring day. The lower branches are neatly bent to the ground, in dug, in advance, not deep trenches and buried in. After a couple of years, they will be able to exist separately from the uterine branches and are transplanted to a permanent place.

The root layers can be separated immediately, the "baby" will take root well in the place where you plant it. Go for a layering in a forest plantation or the nearest nursery and soon a beautiful linden tree will decorate your yard.

Care

So, the seedling has been planted and overwintered, it's time to start cultivating it, that is, to cut the crown. Linden trees are cut from the age of one. The best time for this is early spring, when the buds have not yet blossomed, in the fall the procedure can be repeated. Shortening by more than one third is not recommended.

Adult trees need feeding. When to do it? Enough two dressings per season: early spring and autumn.

Regular watering is needed only for young animals; adult lindens do not need to be watered. Of course, watering will not be superfluous if the summer is dry and hot. Calculate the volume of water from the ratio - two buckets of water for one square meter of the crown.

It is often not necessary to loosen the circumferential circle. It is enough to do this two or three times a season, but weeds need to be removed more often, as they grow. In the fall, when the leaves crumble, they are mulched around the trunk, if sawdust or peat are not used much.

Growing linden in the open field is not difficult, but an interesting activity that even beginners can do, so do not hesitate whether to plant it on the site or not. Just a little patience and care and linden will thank you and your loved ones with its exquisite beauty and aroma. And remember that by planting at least one tree, you will leave a good mark on our land.

→ Heart-shaped linden

The linden is cordate.

Description, chemical composition, medicinal properties.

Linden - a description of the plant.

Linden- a tree up to 20 - 30 m in height, with a large spreading crown. The bark is dark, almost black, deeply fractured; young twigs are reddish-brown, usually glabrous. Leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, heart-shaped, plates 5-10 cm long, dark green, serrate above, with a long-pointed tip, usually symmetrical, less often unequal, the width is almost the same as the length, below the leaves are bluish-green, with bunches of yellowish brown hairs in the nodes of the veins. Leaves bloom in May-June. Flowers are yellowish-white, fragrant, 10 mm in diameter, collected in 3 - 15 pieces in semi-umbrellas. Each inflorescence has a pale yellowish-green elongated lanceolate thin bracts, about 6 cm long, fused with a peduncle up to half its length. The fruit is a single-seeded nut, 4 - 8 mm in diameter, spherical, tomentose, with a woody or leathery shell, brown; seeds are broadly obovate, 4 - 5 mm long, shiny, red-brown. Flowering lasts about two weeks. Blooms in late June - July. The fruits ripen in August-September.

What parts of linden are used for medicinal purposes.

For medicinal purposes, linden inflorescences (linden blossom) are used together with a bract - a fly.
The collection is carried out at a time when most of the flowers have blossomed, and the other part is still in the budding stage. Raw materials harvested at a later time, when some of the flowers have already faded, turns brown when dried, crumbles strongly and becomes unusable. Raw materials are dried immediately after collection under a canopy, in a ventilated room, in the attic or in a dryer at a temperature of 40 - 50 ° C, spreading with a layer of 3 - 5 cm. Readiness is determined by the fragility of the peduncles. Do not dry in the sun, as the raw material loses its color.

The chemical composition of linden.

Linden flowers contain essential oil, which contains farneaol, glycosides - hesperidin and tiliacin, saponins, flavonoid glycosides quercetin and kaempferol, tannins, vitamin C (31.6%), carotene. Linden nectar contains about 40% sucrose and about 12% glucose and fructose. Linden leaves are rich in protein, 131 mg% vitamin C and carotene. The fruits contain about 60% fatty oil, which is close in quality to Provencal oil. A triterpene substance was found in the bark - tiliadin and oil up to 8%.

Linden - medicinal, useful properties.

The healing properties of linden are associated with quercetin and kaempferol. Tiliacin has phytoncidal activity. Linden preparations have a sedative, analgesic, choleretic, diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, emollient effect, stimulate the stomach, moderately reduce blood viscosity.
Linden preparations are used internally with increased nervous excitability, convulsions, pain in the chest, abdomen, colds, chronic cough, accumulation of phlegm in the lungs, abdominal pain caused by a clogged liver, kidney disease, hypertension, childhood infections. As an auxiliary diaphoretic agent for influenza and acute bronchitis, insomnia, topically for rinsing the mouth and throat for inflammatory diseases, tonsillitis, for washing the face to give the skin elasticity.

Linden - use in folk medicine.

• Linden blossom infusion: pour 2 cups of boiling water over 2 tbsp. l. chopped linden flowers, leave for 20 - 30 minutes. Drink as tea, 2 - 3 glasses a day for colds, headaches, fainting, for gargling with tonsillitis and oral cavity in inflammatory processes.


• Unstrained infusion with steamed raw materials or young fresh leaves and buds are prescribed in the form of compresses for inflammation of hemorrhoids, breast, rheumatism, gout, burns.


• A decoction of linden flowers is prepared at the rate of 3-4 tbsp. l. chopped flowers in 2 cups of water, boil for 10 minutes, filter.