Ivan-tea: useful properties and contraindications, rules for the use of narrow-leaved fireweed

One of the most unusual, but at the same time useful plants on our planet is narrow-leaved willow-herb, which is popularly called Ivan-tea. Even in ancient times, people knew about its exceptional healing properties, but even today the herb is commonly used to heal various ailments and to give strength and energy to the whole body.

Drink flavored drink from willow-tea began in the XII century. Due to its availability, it was mostly used by the poor, however, and representatives of rich classes did not disdain a cup or two of the most delicious tea. In the 13th century, St. Petersburg monks began to grow willow-tea, dry it and make it raw for brewing. Reviews about this unique drink quickly reached Europe. Up to the XIX century, this product occupied one of the first places in the foreign trade of Russia, but after the Revolution it was undeservedly forgotten, and only recently they started talking about the drink again.

Ivan-tea has a straightened stem of a rounded shape, its foliage is thick, leafy plates are rather long, their size varies from 4 to 12 cm, the shape is pointed, lance-like. Leaf plates on top are painted in a deep dark green color, and the bottom surface usually has a gray tint, less often - reddish and less often pink.

Flowers are large and reach a diameter of 3-4 cm, painted white-pink or purple-red. Quite rarely, but, nevertheless, you can find plants with milky-white blooms. Flowers come together in clusters in the form of brushes, reaching a length of 40 cm. Flowering begins in the second half of summer and lasts about a month. The fruits look like small pods, seeds ripen in them, which can be easily transported by wind and rain.

A very interesting legend associated with this beautiful flower. They say that in a small village near Petersburg there lived just a guy Ivan, who constantly walked in a red shirt. He spent a lot of time in the forest and was known as a good herbalist. Local residents more than once found him picking berries, herbs, and healing roots, and each time they met a young man, they shouted "Ivan, tea, wanders."

One day the boy disappeared and no one knows how or why this happened, but immediately after his disappearance on the outskirts of the village unprecedented flowers of amazingly beautiful bright scarlet color bloomed. People took them for the shirt of a herbalist and out of habit said "Ivan, tea, wandering." Hence the name of the herb - Ivan-tea.

However, the plant has a lot of other names:

• "Willow-grass" - due to the similarity of leaves with leaves of weeping willow;
• "fireman" - the flower has received the similar name because it is the very first to appear on the ashes;
• "Plakun" - in any attempt to pull a plant with a root out of the ground, it emits a squeak that looks like a sob;
• "Wild flax" - this name is explained by the good bast characteristics of the stems;
• "Breadbasket" - the poor people dried the grass, ground it and added it to the flour, such an additive significantly saved, or even replaced, sweet sugar;
• "Down jacket" - during the blooming of fireweed a large amount of fluff is released, which in ancient times was collected and filled with mattresses and pillows.

Ivan-tea is distinguished by a truly extensive habitat, it grows in the central zone of Russia, and in addition, it can often be found in the Caucasus, as well as the Far East and Siberia. It is commonly found in areas with sandy loam soil, forest glades and even near the railway canvas. It is this grass that grows first in the woods where the fire occurred, although as the young trees and shrubs grow, they thaw.

Quite often, willow-tea is found in forests, both coniferous and deciduous. In this case, the seeds are blown by the wind for quite a long distance, which is why the grass can be found anywhere, even in a country plot, away from wild meadows and forests. However, in the swampy areas the willow does not grow, the seeds do not fully ripen in conditions of strong shading.

When collecting willow tea, try to give preference to places far from busy roads and railways - such plants absorb all harmful exhaust gases and can be dangerous to human health.

Ivan tea has about 14 varieties, the following are the most common.

• Narrow-leaved - This is a perennial herb. Its height, as a rule, is 1-1.5 m, but sometimes it can even reach two meters. It has a dense strong root system, strong erect stems and abundant foliage. Leaf blades are saturated green, darker from above, fading to gray shade from below. The bloom is pink-purple, in rare cases white. Drink from narrow-leaved willow-tea is characterized by powerful healing properties, therefore it is widely used in herbal medicine.

• Broadleaf it is widespread in the North and the Far East, has rather elongated leaves, the size of which reaches 10 cm, is a spear-like shape, the ends are tapered. On the leaf plates may be hairs. Flowers of dark pink shade, inflorescences in the form of a brush. The plant is very popular with the indigenous population, the Eskimos eat it raw, and brew as ordinary tea.

• Caucasian- lives in the lower reaches of the rivers in the Caucasus, as well as in the Stavropol Territory and Adygea. This is a small plant, the height of which does not exceed 50 cm, the size of the leaves is 1-3 cm, the inflorescences are pink, round, floral brushes shortened. This plant is mainly grown as an ornamental.

• Dodoney - reaches meter height, is characterized by single, weakly branched stems. Milky-white or light pink bloom, leaves of a flat linear-lanceolate form, edges of leaf plates without chipping. Most often grows in the middle belt and subalpine belt.

• Stevena - another small-sized plant with bare and very narrow leaves, their width rarely exceeds 3 mm, leaf sheets have hairs.

• Fleucher - perennial grass up to 45 cm high. The plant has quite powerful roots and thick stems with a large number of shoots that are densely covered with leaves of a linear configuration with pointed ends. The length of the sheet reaches 4 mm. Blooms rich bright pink flowers, from June to August. Differs in resistance to low temperatures and is widespread in our country and in the countries of Europe.

• Colchis - it is widespread in the Caucasian regions, where it grows at considerable heights, forming whole alpine meadows of incredible beauty. The plant is short, flowering bright pink.

Cyprus grows almost throughout the territory of our vast country, absolutely adapted to any weather conditions. Its ground part is collected from July to September (at the time of flowering), the root - in spring or autumn. In the flowers, as well as leaves, stems, roots are present:

• tanning components - For the most part pyrohalic group, they have a strong astringent, antimicrobial and hemostatic effects;
• flavonoids - it quartzine and kaempferol, have a diuretic and slight antispasmodic effect;
• vitamin C - contributes to the improvement of immunity, resistance to colds and fungal infections;
• mucous components - characterized by the property to envelop, remove seizures, inflammatory processes and pain;
• alkaloids - are considered good analgesics and in low concentrations stimulate metabolism and normalize blood circulation;
• pectin - favorable for the organs of the digestive system;
• chlorophyll - exhibits a strong wound-healing effect, normalizes metabolic processes in the human body;
• polysaccharides - are an active participant in all immune processes;
• organic acids - necessary to maintain the balance of acids and alkalis in good condition;
• mineral elements - manganese + iron, necessary to improve the quality of the blood, and nickel + molybdenum, which create the conditions for maintaining stable immunity.

Due to the presence of a huge amount of nutritional components, it has a strong healing and immunostimulating effect. One of the most pronounced are antimicrobial and antispasmodic properties, due to which the herb is widely used for the treatment of enteritis, gastritis, and in addition, pathologies of the prostate and urinary system.

The plant shows a sedative effect, helps to reduce nervous tension, improve the psycho-emotional state and improve sleep.

Experts recommend drinking the infusion during weakening - they charge a person with energy, allow you to actively work while maintaining good health.

Drinking tea can increase hemoglobin, restore electrolyte balance in blood vessels and eliminate migraines.

Cyprus is very useful for the digestive tract and the normalization of metabolic processes, thanks to him you can forget about constipation, heartburn and such unpleasant problems as diarrhea and dysbacteriosis for a long time.

Ivan tea is characterized by a powerful urinary and choleretic effect, it significantly improves the water-salt metabolism, fights against various viruses and allergies.

Herbal drink is extremely useful for young mothers when breastfeeding, because it has the ability to increase lactation. The result of including it in the diet of a nursing woman is to maintain the production of the required amount of breast milk, so that women can feed their babies as long as possible, which is extremely useful for newborn babies.

Cypriot is commonly prescribed for complex cleansing of the body, it helps to eliminate all unnecessary waste and toxins, and also regulates the functioning of the endocrine organs.

Herbal tea has a pronounced rejuvenating effect, helps to slow down age-related changes, improves skin condition, makes it fresh, very radiant and smooth.

Ivan-tea is necessary not only for representatives of the weaker sex, but also for men, since it can have a beneficial effect on prostate adenoma, and also normalizes the potency and supports erectile function. As a result, men, even in advanced age, retain the ability to have a sexual life and even conception.

As for the representatives of the weaker sex, fireweed is considered one of the most powerful tools in the fight against cystitis, thrush and other diseases of the pelvic organs. This drink is also often used for weight loss.

There are few contraindications to the intake of firewife, but, nevertheless, they are. Most importantly, it should be borne in mind that with continuous continuous use of the drink for more than a month, there is a high risk of dysfunction of the digestive organs.

Herbal extracts are not advised to drink with varicose veins, as well as with thrombosis and thrombophlebitis.

Some pediatricians believe that tea should not be included in the diet of children under 2 years of age, however, official medicine is well aware of cases when grass decoctions helped even the smallest crumbs.

The list of contraindications also introduced an allergic reaction and a sharp individual intolerance to the components of the herb.

The scope of application of willow-tea is wide and is not limited to making tea. Young green leaves are often used for the preparation of vitamin salads and soups - to do this, they simply need to cut without any prior heat treatment. However, this plant does not have a pronounced independent taste, like, for example, wild garlic. However, in field conditions, grass is indispensable.

Leaves can also be added to the first courses, for this purpose they also use young succulent parts of the plant. The leaves can also be brewed in tea, but most often the plant flowers are used to make a drink, for this they are boiled in water for 5-7 minutes, after which they are either used as brewing or added to jellies with rhubarb or berries.

The proportions for the preparation of such tea are the same as for ordinary black - to make a cup of flavored drink, take half a teaspoon of grass and pour a glass of boiling water. If desired, you can add sage, oregano or mint. This combination significantly improves the taste and nutritional value of the infusion.

Ivan tea is recommended to use up to 5-6 times a day, while welding can be used up to 3 timesby adding a little boiling water to it. Useful properties of this drink are preserved, although the taste is slightly weakened.

Brewed drink can be stored for up to 3 days, after throwing out the grass.

Seeds of fireweed are formed quite abundantly and are carried along with down by the wind and rain, so it would be fair to assume that ivan tea should grow everywhere, but this does not happen at all. The reason is that the grass is very demanding of light, and its seedlings are very weak and can not tolerate the slightest competition from other weeds.

In order to enjoy the taste and healing properties of fireweed, some try to grow it on their own on their own plot. In this case, you should know that the plant will develop well in areas exposed to sunlight and in nutrient-rich minerals. In addition, the plant responds well to high humidity in the evening and at night. These requirements are best met by areas near lakes, rivers, streams and plantations.

When sowing such a "fluff" on your own personal plot, it is necessary to resort to little tricks so that it does not fly apart.

To begin with, at home it is necessary to prepare the seeds for planting - to do this, narrow strips are cut from ordinary toilet paper and put paste on them in the drip method in 8-9-cm increments.

Kiprey is planted in the spring or fall, work is carried out on a dry sunny day. To do this, make a fire in the prepared area and wait for the appearance of coal. After that, they are raked and raked with moss, sawdust or peat - burning, they give another layer of ash.

After a day in the burnt ground it is necessary to make small grooves in which to put the prepared paper, deepening by 2-3 cm, then pour abundantly with water, necessarily thawed or rain. No more actions need to be carried out, then nature itself will do everything.

Ivan-tea will start growing much better if you arrange a garden pond or a small fountain near it - this will provide the moisture level required for the growth and development of fireweed.

If it is not possible to attach the seeds to paper, then you can resort to another variant of planting - the seeds are pre-mixed with sand and sown like carrots.

As willow tea grows, it will produce root processes. Finally, the plant will consolidate in the allotted area after 5-6 years, and after that the colony will gradually begin to get rid of itself.

In order to preserve the beneficial properties of the tea, the herb is fermented - with this method of harvesting, the concentration of minerals and vitamins remains maximum and the tea retains its nutritional value and healing features.

The most well-known variant of the harvesting starts from the collection of grass, it is optimal to do this in the morning immediately after the complete drying of the dew. Weed grass is dried in a shaded place, then hands fray and stuffed in glass containers, covered with a wet canvas cloth and stored in a warm place for 1.5 days.

The prepared composition is dried in the oven with constant stirring. As a result of such actions a powdery composition is formed, which should then be used to brew tea.

The second method came to us from ancient times - the collected leaves and flowers are laid out in a thin layer on a damp cotton or linen fabric, and then wrapped in a strong roll and fixed with an elastic band. Then the workpiece is additionally moistened with water from a spray bottle so that the fabric cannot absorb the juice released from the plant. Immediately after that, they begin to actively bend and then unbend the billet so that the active grinding of the raw material and its chafing starts inside the coil.

The third method of producing fermented willow is much less commonly used. For this, the raw materials are divided into 2 parts. From the first half give the juice using a simple juicer and the resulting liquid pour the second part of the workpiece. The mass is placed under pressure and stored for three days, then dried in the oven.

How to harvest Ivan-tea at home, see in the video below.