Where does lingonberry grow?

Lingonberry is a wild berry that has been used by man as a medicine for the treatment and prevention of a specific spectrum of diseases for centuries. In addition, the berry is harvested as a treat, as well as used to prepare culinary dishes. Modern cosmetology also considers lingonberry a valuable herbal remedy, which is added to the composition of home or production preparations. Cranberries, infusions are prepared from lingonberries, using not only the fruits of the plant, but also its leaves.

Habitats of this plant consider the northern territories of Russia, where most often the zone of forests and tundra prevails, as well as the marshland. Berry grows in the forest, preferring deciduous, coniferous and mixed types of forest areas. Often the plant can be found on a peat bog or in a tundra plain.

The most common lingonberry in Siberia, in the Far East, in the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Vologda regions of central Russia. The northern threshold of the range reaches the border area with Finland, and in the east it borders on the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, which is located near the Pacific Ocean. The eastern territory of the distribution of lingonberries includes the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and Primorye.

In the southern direction, the range extends up to the borders of Russia and Kazakhstan, but the zone of the steppes and semi-desert areas bypasses. Approximately in the area of ​​the Omsk region, the range goes to the Urals. There are small areas of lingonberry growth in the highland regions - in the Caucasus and in the Carpathians.

In the mountain and lowland landscapes of the tundra zone, the plant dominates in the grass and low shrub layer of flora. In the forest zone, lingonberry, growing in the grass, prefers places with coniferous trees or mixed coniferous-deciduous light areas, because its productivity is determined by how closely the crowns of the tree layer - trees and tall shrubs.

In areas of coniferous forests with a small proportion of crown density, the largest berries grow in size, and their number makes it possible to reap a good crop. On marshy soils, lingonberry selects mossy areas and often coexists with blueberries.

Lingonberry is an evergreen, undersized shrub whose stem is branched, and leaves are alternately arranged on it, the edges of which are folded inwards and have the shape of an ellipse. Lingonberry leaves have a rich green color of the outer surface and pale green color of the inner side. To the touch leaves are hard, dense. The shrub blooms in May-June, it has small flowers of white or pale pink color, arranged in several pieces next to each other in the form of a brush. Flowers are considered an excellent honey plant and pollinated by insects.

After flowering, the plant produces round-shaped fruits, which at the beginning of ripening have a white color, and ripe berries have a bright red color. Inside the fruit there is a large number of very small seeds. On a branch, the berries most often grow in a small bunch, for which the lingonberry is sometimes called the “northern grape”. The taste of ripe lingonberries is sweet and sour, there is a bit of bitterness. The cranberries, which over-winterized under the snow cover, become sweet to the taste, but completely unsuitable for transportation and storage.

Lingonberry spreads throughout its habitat with the help of animals and birds.Bright, ripe and tasty fruits attract animals and birds - they gladly feed on lingonberries, and then undigested small seeds naturally fall into the soil and germinate in favorable conditions.

The root system of the plant has a main root, around which are adventitious roots. The roots of the plant have one interesting feature - they make a symbiotic connection with the soil mycelium. Thanks to the mycelium, the plant absorbs as many nutrients as possible from the soil, even on soils where the nutrient content is extremely scarce. If this symbiotic relationship is broken, the plant eventually becomes shallow and dies.

Harvesting berries cranberries produce as it ripens. The collection period will largely be determined by the geographic location of its growth, and the more north the plant distribution area is, the later the ripening of the cowberry fruits will be indicated.

In the northern latitudes, the berries ripen in October, in the central regions of Russia the lingonberry ripens in late September, in the more southern ones - by the end of August. An important role for the plot where the berry grows is played by such a geographical concept as “height above sea level”. In addition, light is a significant factor. So, for example, in the forests of Karelia, where spruce forests have a tightly closed crown, the ripening of berries can be shifted to a later date - by about 2-3 weeks.

The leaves of lingonberry remain green even in winter under the snow cover. Evergreen lingonberry leaf from the plant is harvested twice a year. The first time they can be collected as soon as the snow melts. It is important to carry out the stage of preparation before the beginning of the flowering of the lingonberry - then in the medicinal raw material there will be the maximum content of the biologically active components.

The second time the lingonberry leaf can be harvested only after the end of the fruiting period, that is, literally before the snow covers the plant. Collect the leaves of cowberry taken by hand, blackened or brown leaves for blanks are not suitable - they are immediately culled from the total mass. Harvest the leaves of leaves without delay sent for drying.

According to official data, in Russia annually collect up to 150 tons of berries and about 8 tons of lingonberry leaf, which are used in pharmacology. The main suppliers of wild growing cowberry raw materials are the Arkhangelsk region and Karelia. Lingonberry harvesting can be done in any areas of its growth, but the exception is nature conservation reserves and national parks.

In many forest farms, in order to produce bulk harvesting of lingonberry raw materials, special permits for harvesting are acquired. At the same time, all norms on plant conservation are observed. The yield in those places where the collection is rare, is the highest.

Lingonberry leaf has a fairly rich and specific chemical composition. It contains large quantities of natural plant acids - tartaric, ursuloic, quinic, gallic, ellagic. In addition, the plant is rich in arbutin, flavonoids and tannins. They make decoctions and infusions from the leaves of lingonberries, using them for treating kidneys and urinary system. This is the main healing value of the plant.

Lingonberry berries are also rich in plant acids - sorrel, acetic, citric, benzoic, malic and others. Lycopene and vaccine are very valuable components of cowberry fruits. Berries, along with lingonberry leaf, are used in inflammatory diseases of the kidneys and urinary system.In addition, they are well proven to eliminate beriberi, including for the treatment of gout and rheumatoid arthritis.

They make blanks from the berries - jams, jams, compotes or just soaked fresh berries in clean spring water, and then used throughout the winter period. Since cowberry fruits contain a rather large amount of benzoic acid, as a natural preservative, it prevents fermentation in bilberry products.

Harvested berries are usually able to "ripen" within 5-6 days. At the same time, it becomes a bit soft, and the taste is more sweet. This happens due to the fact that natural acids from the harvested berries are replaced with sugars over a short period of time. Such processes occur when the berries reach maturity of about 70-80 percent.

Lingonberry in the 20th century ceased to be only a wild-growing berry. Now you can buy freshly frozen lingonberries in almost every supermarket. Berry is most often brought to our country from the Baltic countries, Germany, Austria, Norway, Finland, Poland. In these countries for the first time cultivate a wild plant began in the 60s.

Modern Russian breeders also learned to cultivate the plant on an industrial scale. In Russia, the first such plantations have already begun to appear in the 80s. In addition, at the dacha plots, many gardeners are now quite successfully growing lingonberry bushes.

Lingonberry requires a soil with an acidic pH, which is rich in peat, pine needles and a nutrient substrate. For favorable growth, it is important for the plant to get good lighting and sufficient watering. As a rule, to grow a full-fledged bush is obtained from the seeds, which can now be bought almost everywhere. Now you can even choose at your discretion which sort of lingonberries is most preferable for you - Ruby, RedPerl, Ida, Suzy, Coral, Kostroma Pink. The demand for lingonberry seeds is quite large, so the varieties of varieties will soon be more extensive.

Cultivated lingonberry varieties give yields 2-3 times more than wild plants. Now cowberry bushes are grown in greenhouses. Observers noted that under greenhouse conditions, the yield of the plant increased significantly. Plants grown in the greenhouse, can bear fruit twice in one year - in July and September.

The first harvest, as a rule, is the most abundant, and the yield of the second wave is already lower by half. With one square meter of land in the greenhouse you can collect approximately 900 grams of berries per season. If we compare this indicator with a wild-growing plant, it turns out that it is twice as large as a greenhouse plant.

The selection of lingonberries has a number of positive properties:

• it is frost resistant;
• the plant is little affected by various garden pests;
• young plants are capable of producing a bountiful harvest for several years, as over time a row of small bushes planted in a greenhouse can reach 80-95 centimeters in diameter.

For information on how to collect lingonberries, see the following video.