Wild radish: characteristics and properties

Wild radish can often be found in fields and meadows, in wastelands and roadsides. This is a one-year weed that is poisonous enough. The plant perfectly adapts to any climate and soil, therefore, distributed on almost all continents.Most of all radish grows in European forests, pastures and along the banks of ponds and lakes in spring and summer, but you can meet it in early autumn.

Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum, lat.) Is a plant of the cabbage family or cruciferous. It looks like a mixture of domesticated radish and field mustard. Weed is pollinated by insects. For this, it has odorous flowers with nectar. The height of the herbaceous stem varies from 40 to 60 cm, with weak roots. The extensive root system is located close enough to the surface of the earth.

The basal rosette is formed by deep lobes of large leaves, and high small leaves are located on the stem alternately. The stem itself may be lanceolate or round on the cut with a green-blue or purple tinge. The stem does not branch, but grows with several branches from one base.

The leaves of this plant are covered with small hairs, because of which they have a rough surface. The edges of the leaves are narrowed and have a lot of small notches. Inflorescences of such a radish in the form of a brush can be of several shades: yellow, lilac, white or purple. They are located at the ends of the stems and have a length of about 20-40 mm in diameter. The radish is blooming in early or mid-June and by the beginning of July it is already completely blooming.

Raphanus raphanistrum reproduces as follows. After flowering, long seed boxes are formed on the stem, resembling bean pods or beans. This type of shoot has about 3-9 cm in length and 3-6 mm in width. Boxes are attached to the main stem by small cuttings 10-30 mm long and have a greenish or purple color.

Such a testis ends with a long thinning “nose”, and its body itself is divided into several segments, each of which contains a seed.

As the pods mature, they begin to turn yellow-brown or gray in color and split into several segments. The seed in each segment is only one - it is a round ball of almost perfect shape, having a diameter of from 1 to 4 mm. Seed color varies from yellowish red to brown. During one season on each annual plant from 150 to 300 such balls mature. Seeds that have fallen to the ground can germinate only the next summer, they experience winter under a layer of snow. Since the seeds fall a short distance from the mother plant, they are transported over long distances either with the help of animals or through crops such as oats or wheat.

Wild radish is a great honey plant that has a strong sweet aroma. But in agriculture, they are trying to completely exterminate this weed, using both manual weeding and herbicidal treatment. This is done because the radish rises much earlier than vegetables or grains and can grow, leaving no space and nutrients to the “cultural neighbors”.

Seeds and tubers of wild radish have a wide medicinal use. This is due to the high content of thioglycoside glucobrassicin and flavonoids in its tubers, as well as a large amount of fatty oil in its seeds. In addition, it contains many beneficial vitamins and trace elements: iodine, iron, phosphorus and potassium. Radish has strong antibacterial and bactericidal properties, so it is widely used to treat various skin diseases. Decoction of its seeds helps with tumors and rheumatoid arthritis. To do this, you need 1 teaspoon of seeds pour 1 tbsp. water. The resulting mixture is boiled and left to infuse for about 2-3 hours. Strained tincture taken three times a day, 1-2 tbsp. spoons both before and after meals.

Tubers of a weed plant perfectly restore the work of the gastrointestinal tract. Also, the fruits of wild radish are very useful for people suffering from urolithiasis. To prepare the medicine, you need to pick up a rather large radish and make a small depression in it.Sugar is poured into it or honey is put in order to stimulate the separation of bitter juice and soften its taste. The resulting juice must be taken once a day in the amount of 2-3 tbsp. spoons. A similar medicine is used for diseases of the respiratory tract and to remove sputum from the lungs. With proper preparation, such medicine can be more effective than various tinctures and sprays purchased at the pharmacy.

In addition to cooking various decoctions, the leaves of wild radish can be used as food, making them a salad. For this you will need:

• 200 g of radish leaves;
• 150 g green onions;
• 50 g parsley;
• 50 g of dill.

For the sauce will need:

• 2 eggs;
• 0.5 tbsp. low-fat sour cream;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar;
• salt and sugar to taste.

All greens should be thoroughly washed and dried with a paper towel, and then finely chopped into deep dishes. Egg yolks are whipped with sour cream and vinegar, after which butter, sugar and salt are added to the sauce. Serve this salad in portions, spreading it on large dried pieces of white bread.

Externally, wild radish is very similar to the usual home-made radish, which can be found at almost every summer cottage, so they are easy to confuse. However, during the flowering period, the weed becomes very toxic due to the accumulation of mustard oils in its inflorescences. Its stems and leaves are also saturated with poison, from which you can get rid of only well dried them. If you add such herbs to a salad, you can easily get serious health problems.

And the root of a wild plant is poisonous during the entire life of a weed, therefore it is impossible to use it inside, regardless of radish flowering.

The first signs of poisoning are changes in urine color from yellow to bright orange and severe nausea and even vomiting. With intoxication, dizziness and palpitations can be felt. If necessary measures are not taken in a timely manner, dangerous changes in the kidneys and adrenal glands may occur. In the case of poisoning should act on a specific algorithm.

• First of all, it is necessary to make a complete gastric lavage as early as possible. For this you can use both ordinary boiled water and a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
• The second thing to do is to perform an enema with ordinary water or the same solution of potassium permanganate. This is necessary to completely clean the intestines from toxic weed residues.
• With severe pain in the heart and apparent arrhythmia, validol or nitroglycerin should be taken.
• To reduce the side effects on the stomach some time after cleaning it will be useful to drink 1-1.5 liters of thick kissel. It envelops the gastric walls and protects them from inflammation.
• A hot water bottle with cold water or a wet towel is placed on the stomach, after which an ambulance team is called. Even if the pain and pain have already passed, and the nausea has receded, it will be better if the specialist examines the victim.

There are two methods of dealing with wild radish, used both in large agricultural companies and ordinary gardeners in their summer cottages. The first is weeding. On ordinary beds, this is done manually, using a scapula or hoe. On an industrial scale, it is more difficult to do, since radish is the largest in size of stalks and seed pods, similar to the size of ears. In order to separate them from the desired crop, it is necessary to apply the cleaning of crops on special agricultural machines. The second method of weed control is tillage with herbicides that destroy dicotyledons. This may be bromoxynil, metsulfuronmethyl, dicamba, and mixtures thereof. In addition, weeds are well removed from non-planted fields by common destructive drugs.

You will learn more about wild radish in the following video.