How aspens breed. Aspen magic. Barrel: color group

Common aspen

scientific classification
Kingdom:

Plants
The Department:

flowering plants
Class:

Dicotyledonous
Order:

Malpighian colored
Family:
Genus:
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Common aspen
International scientific name

Populus tremula L., 1753
View in taxonomic databases
CoL

Common aspen(lat. Populus tremula) is a deciduous tree of the willow family ( Salicaceae).

Description

Botanical illustration from the book by O. V. Tome "Flora von Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz", 1885

Part of a shoot with leaves

A tree up to 35 m tall with an ovoid or wide-cylindrical crown, rounded at the top and an even cylindrical trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The tap root develops only in young aspen, later it is lost among strong lateral roots, which extend for a considerable distance beyond the crown projection, and is located near the soil surface, almost parallel to it. The horizontal roots of aspens can grow together with each other. This feature is characteristic of both the roots of the same tree and the roots of different trees. As a rule, root fusion begins at a young age in case of their mutual pressure and most often when the roots are located at an angle of 90 ° to each other or close to it. The phenomenon of root fusion is widespread in aspen populations and in some cases leads to the creation of a single root system in them.

The bark is light, greenish-olive-gray, smooth, only in the lower part of the old trunks is dark gray or black, deeply cracking. Young branches are smooth or pubescent, the shoots are brown, with sparse lenticels.

Leaves rounded-rhombic or almost rounded, blunt, acute or bluntly pointed at the apex, rounded or broadly wedge-shaped at the base, less often slightly heart-shaped, with unequal large bluntly pointed teeth along the edges, glabrous or with inconspicuous pubescence on both sides, gray-green , pale below, bluish, 3-7 cm long and almost as wide, with 3-5 basal veins at the base of the leaf. The petioles are bare, flattened in the upper half, which is why the aspen leaves move even with a slight movement of air. In coppice shoots, the leaves are much larger, heart-shaped or triangular-ovate, pointed at the top, unequally serrate-toothed along the edges, often hairy, especially on the lower surface. Stipules falling very early, whitish, up to 10 mm long, linear, hairy at the apex. In autumn, the leaves turn carmine, red lead or lemon yellow and partially fall off green.

Dioecious tree. In the forests formed by aspen, there are always more males than females. The flowers are small, collected in hanging catkins. Male catkins are reddish, 4-15 cm long and up to 2 cm thick, pubescent; women's earrings are greenish. Bracts are dark brown with unequal teeth, soft-haired along the edges, 3-5 mm long. The fruit is a dark green capsule that opens into two leaves. Seeds are small, black with a tuft of silvery hairs.

Aspen wood is sapwood, diffusely vascular, white with a greenish tint, light, soft. Annual layers differ in all sections, especially when wood is wetted with water.

Chemical composition

Essential oil, bitterness, glycosides, malic acid, tannins and other substances were found in the buds and leaves.

Aromatic acids, phenol glycosides, tannins, higher fatty acids (capric, lauric, arachidic, behenic, etc.), glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc. were found in the bark.

Spreading

The range covers Western Europe, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China (Manchuria), North Korea, the northern part of Mongolia. In Russia, it is distributed in the European part, Crimea, Siberia, the Far East (with the exception of the tundra), and the North Caucasus.

It is common in all natural and administrative regions of the Saratov Right Bank. In the Rtishchevo district recorded in the area of ​​the former village of Rtishchevo.

Features of biology and ecology

Aspen in admixture is found in all types of deciduous forests. In the steppe, it forms the so-called aspen pegs, where it also tolerates salinization of the soil, and is also abundantly found along the slopes and at the bottom of ravines. Aspen-dominated forests are always secondary, that is, those that have arisen after felling or fires in place of spruce, pine, oak and other broad-leaved species. Most of these forests are of coppice origin from root suckers and partly from stumps. Seed aspen forests are relatively rare, although the ease of dispersal of seeds and the low sensitivity of aspen to frost ensure that it occupies empty areas.

It grows rapidly and by the age of 20 reaches 9-12 m in height with a trunk diameter of 7-13 cm, and at the age of 50 it is 15-24 m in height and 15-24 cm in diameter. Usually grows rapidly until the age of 50-60 years.

Gives abundant shoots from a stump up to 20-40 years and a large number of root offspring. The latter, under the canopy of the forest, due to light starvation and non-ripening of the shoots, are damaged by frost and turn into junkies; on cutting areas, they grow faster and form aspen stands.

It blooms from late April to early May, after which it dresses with leaves. The fruits ripen in June - early July.

Aspen preparations have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, analgesic, wound-healing effects. For therapeutic purposes, buds, leaves, bark of young branches are used.

Traditional medicine recommends a decoction of the kidneys for diarrhea, dysentery, colitis and enterocolitis, fever, myositis, and an alcohol tincture of the inner part of the bark of young branches with leaves in a ratio of 1:10 is taken 15-20 drops per glass of water for stomach pain, acute and chronic inflammation bladder, hemorrhoids and rheumatism.

Dried and powdered aspen buds and mixed with butter or sunflower oil are used as an anti-inflammatory agent for burns, chronic ulcers, hemorrhoids. Young leaves boiled in boiling water are used as poultices for rheumatic, gouty and hemorrhoidal pains.

In other areas

Aspen wood, characterized by a uniform, thin structure, white color, softness and high impregnation ability, is the main raw material in the match industry; it is also used in the production of cellulose intended for the manufacture of viscose (artificial silk), for riveting for barrels for oil products, for snow shovels and for roofing shingles, goes to various other products, is used for cold buildings and for firewood. The wood is also used for packaging chips, straw hats and artificial flowers.

It is a honey plant with abundant nectar and pollen. Among beekeepers, it is also known as delivering a lot of glue collected by bees from blossoming buds.

A dye is obtained from the bark and young leaves to dye fabrics yellow and green.

Leaves and young shoots contain a lot of fiber, carotene, ascorbic acid, they are readily eaten by cattle, horses, sheep and goats.

As an ornamental and phytomeliorative breed, it is used in the green construction of parks and forest parks, as well as for afforestation of the banks of rivers and reservoirs. It has a number of decorative forms - weeping, pyramidal and others.

Literature

  • Alekseev Yu. E., Zhmylev P. Yu., Karpukhina E. A. Trees and shrubs. Encyclopedia of the nature of Russia. - M.: ABF, 1997. - S. 131-135
  • Grisyuk N. M. and others. Wild food, technical and honey plants of Ukraine / N. M. Grisyuk, I. L. Grinchak, E. Ya. Yelin. - K .: Harvests, 1989. - ISBN 5-337-00334-8. - S. 98
  • Grozdova N. B. and others. Trees, shrubs and vines: a reference guide / ed. Dr. Biol. Sciences V. I. Nekrasov.- M.: Timber industry, 1986. - S. 287-288
  • Glukhov M. M. Honey plants. Ed. 7th, revised. and additional - M.: Kolos, 1974. - S. 205
  • Trees and shrubs of the USSR. Wild, cultivated and prospects for introduction / Ed. in 6 volumes. T. II. Angiosperms. - M., L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1951. - S. 190-194
  • Elenevsky A. G., Radygina V. I., Bulany Yu. I. Plants of the Saratov Right Bank (compendium of flora). - Saratov: Sarat Publishing House. pedin-ta, 2000. - ISBN 5-87077-047-5. - p. 22
  • Lavrenova G. V., Lavrenov V. K. Encyclopedia of medicinal plants. Volume 1. - Donetsk: Donechchina, 1997. - S. 627-628

Common aspen is a deciduous plant belonging to the genus Poplars of the Willow family, widely distributed in the temperate and cold climate zones of the Eurasian continent. This is a large, tall tree, the height of which can reach 35 m with a trunk diameter of 1 meter. It grows quite quickly and lives long enough: up to 80-90 years. At the same time, aspen is susceptible to the development of various diseases, which is why high-quality specimens of large sizes and solid age are extremely rare.

According to the structure of its woody part, aspen belongs to non-core rocks of the scattered vascular type. The wood of this tree has a whitish color with a slightly greenish tint. At the same time, the texture of aspen does not differ in particular expressiveness and showiness.

Annual rings and heart-shaped rays are practically invisible on it. Compared to other representatives of deciduous trees used on an industrial scale, it can be called rustic, therefore, it is practically not used to create decorative products.

At the same time, this material has good resistance to abrasion, lends itself well to turning and cutting. It is quite homogeneous, and due to this, in the manufacture of blanks, it can be cut in any direction, without the occurrence of dents and chips.

In the photo-picture - an aspen tree and some of its features

Where does aspen grow and its differences from poplar

Common aspen is one of the important forest-forming species of Russia and is found in almost the entire territory of the country, including the European part, as well as the regions of the Far East and Siberia. In addition, this tree can be found in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Korea, China and many European countries.

It feels great on soils of any type in forest-steppe and forest zones, mainly along the banks of rivers and ravines, as well as on edges and areas with elevated relief.

As a rule, this tree grows in a group, forming aspen forests, or is part of mixed forests, combined with alder, larch, pine and birch. Due to the deep location of the roots, the aspen is not very sensitive to small forest fires.

Otherwise, this plant is usually called a trembling poplar, but there are a number of certain differences between these trees.

So, what is the difference between aspen and poplar:

  • Budding of poplar in spring occurs much faster, with the release of a characteristic odor and the appearance of stickiness. Aspen buds "come to life" more slowly.
  • Aspen blooms in early spring, before the leaves fully open. Poplar blossoms in summer, spreading fluff around it, while aspen inflorescences are long brunchi earrings.
  • The leaves of these trees vary in shape.
  • Aspen branches are more fragile than poplar.

On the left are aspen leaves, and on the right are poplars.

Density, strength and moisture

One of the important indicators that have a direct impact on the quality and final form of processed wood raw materials is the density of wood. This term refers to the ratio of the mass of wood of a certain moisture content to its volume.

At the same time, the more moist the woody part of the tree is, the greater the density it has. In addition, when evaluating wood, an indicator of the conditional density of wood is also used, which is the ratio of the mass of the test sample in a completely dried state to its volume at the limit of hygroscopicity.

The indicators of density and conditional density of aspen are as follows:

Density coefficient at different humidity levels:

Humidity level, % Density coefficient, kg/m3
10 490
20 510
30 540
40 580
50 620
60 660
70 710
80 750
90 790
100 830
In fresh cut condition 760 (82)

Thus, it can be seen that aspen wood has an average density of 490 kg/m3. The natural moisture content of this material when freshly cut is on average 82% with a maximum moisture content of 185% water absorption.

The determination of the compressive strength of wood is determined using prototypes of a prismatic shape, subjected to gradual loads until complete destruction.

For common aspen, these indicators will look like this (according to the research of S.I. Vanin):

  • The compressive strength in the direction along the fibers (at a moisture content of 15%) is 374 kg/cm2.
  • When stretched in the direction along the fibers - 1450 kg / cm2.
  • When chipping in the radial plane - 44 kg / cm2.
  • During the operation of static bending (at a humidity of 15%) - 673 kg / cm2.
  • When performing impact bending in the tangential direction - 0.37 kgm/cm3.

According to the "Handbook of mechanical properties of wood", the average strength of wood will be as follows:

  • The strength limit for static bending is 76.5 MPa.
  • Tension along the fibers - 121 MPa.
  • Compression along the fibers - 43.1 MPa.
  • Splitting along the radial plane - 6.15 MPa.
  • On the tangential plane - 8.42 MPa.
  • Impact strength - 84.6 kJ / m2.
  • The modulus of elasticity of aspen wood in static bending is 11.2 GPa.

Aspen wood has good ductility to various types of processing, including cutting, bending, painting and polishing. In addition, she peels well.

Specific and volumetric weight of wood

Among the important indicators on the basis of which the quality of the wood used is assessed are its specific and volumetric gravity. To calculate the specific or relative weight of wood material, its weight is divided by the same amount of water.

In aspen wood, it is, at a moisture content of 12%, 510 kg / m3. At the same time, in contrast to , the values ​​of this indicator in aspen are not constant, but can vary quite widely.

This is due to the structure of the fibers of the material, which are characterized by high porosity. In other words, aspen commercial wood always contains a certain amount of moisture, which it easily gives up when dried and picks up with the same ease when placed in a more humid environment.

In addition to specific gravity, it is also customary to distinguish between the volumetric weight of wood or the weight per unit volume, the measurement of which occurs at a moisture content of the raw material of 15%.

Data on the volumetric weight of aspen with a change in its moisture content are given in the following table:

Chemical composition, hardness and strength properties

The bulk of aspen wood consists of various organic substances, including four main elements: oxygen, hydrogen, carbohydrate and nitrogen. In addition, it contains a certain amount of mineral substances, which form an ash residue during their combustion.

In the course of research, 17 chemical elements were found in the composition of the woody part of this plant, such as aluminum, silicon, magnesium, calcium, chromium, titanium, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, molybdenum, zirconium, zinc, strontium, manganese, lead and barium.

At the same time, it was noted that the chemical composition of aspen wood changed depending on its age: in older aspens, the content of titanium increased and the amount of copper, aluminum, silicon, iron, nickel, strontium and zirconium decreased. The quantitative ratio of other elements remained unchanged.

Of the organic compounds in the composition of aspen wood are: ash - 0.26%; pentosans - 27.47%; lignin - 21.81%; cellulose - 41.77%. The impact hardness index of aspen wood is 640 gmm/mm2. That is, it can be attributed to the number of soft rocks.

Aspen combustion temperature, thermal conductivity

Like a number of other coniferous and deciduous tree species, as a raw material for isothermal processes accompanied by heat release. In this regard, such an indicator as the calorific value of this tree is of particular importance.

In accordance with this criterion, which is defined as the amount of heat released by one weight unit of wood material during combustion, aspen can be classified as a low-heat species. That is, the amount of heat generated by it will be very small.

The burning temperature of aspen is 612 degrees. The combustion of firewood from this tree occurs quite quickly, without the formation of coal residue. Because of this, they are not very well suited for heating purposes, since it is impossible to maintain a constant operating temperature in the firebox with their use.

However, such firewood is well suited for burning soot and cleaning the chimney after using softwood raw materials that emit a large amount of soot and pollution.

The characteristics of aspen wood as a source of thermal energy are given in the following table:

It is also worth noting that, compared with trees of other species, aspen has a high ability to absorb moisture. Its limit of hygroscopicity is 21.8 - 22.9%.

Despite its obvious shortcomings, aspen wood also has a number of positive qualities that deserve a five-point rating on a five-point rating scale. Namely:

  • Decorative. Due to its pleasant silvery hue, it has been used by craftsmen to cover the roofs of temples since ancient times.
  • Ease of use. Soft and pliable aspen is used to make many products, including dishes.
  • The absence of resin. Because of this, it is often used to make baths.
  • Environmental friendliness and safety for humans.

Norms according to GOST

Since aspen wood is a building material with various uses, it is subject to a number of requirements and standards that it must comply with.

Standards for the quality and appearance of semi-finished products, profile parts and other elements for construction are contained in GOST 8242-88. When using wood raw materials from aspen for the purpose of pyrolysis and charcoalization, GOST 24260-80 is applied.

At the end of the article, you can watch a video about the collection and non-standard use of aspen bark:

Aspen is not a simple tree. It is also popularly called mystical and cursed. And why they talk about him like that, you will definitely find out now. This is a large, belonging to the willow family, the height of which can sometimes reach 35 meters. White wood has a characteristic greenish tint. And what is most interesting, the age of this tree is almost impossible to determine. After all, they usually recognize him by the rings on the cut, but in the aspen they are not visible at all. But it is known that on average lives from 90 to 150 years. You can meet aspen most often in forests or on the banks of water bodies, rarely in dry sands, clearings and swamps. It is very therefore in recent years it has been used for landscaping territories. Aspen is a tree that lends itself well to polishing, so it is widely used in the manufacture of objects. Well log cabins are also made from it, since such wood is not at all afraid of water. In the old days, village craftsmen made hives-hollows, kitchen utensils and birdhouses from it.

Why is it believed that the aspen is a cursed tree?

They talk about this for a reason, because any belief cannot arise out of nowhere. There are several Christian legends in which the aspen behaved treacherously. For example, when the Mother of God with the baby was fleeing in the forest, all the green inhabitants calmed down and only the "cursed" tree betrayed her and showed the way.

And yet, when Judas wanted to hang himself, not a single tree allowed him to do this: the birch lowered its branches, the pear scared away with prickly thorns, and the oak - with power. But the aspen did not contradict him and happily rustled its leaves. That is why people cursed her. It is also believed that the aspen forest is an excellent remedy for witchcraft. It absorbs and de-energizes all energy. No wonder vampires are stuck in the heart

Energy

Aspen - the tree, the photos of which you see in the article, is able to absorb negative energy. They usually go to her when they want to get rid of problems and get rid of troubles. They say that if you touch her with a sore spot, then she will take the whole disease upon herself and the person will feel better. But at the same time, too much contact with aspen can cause headaches, nausea, depression and drowsiness. Therefore, contact with her should not exceed 15 minutes. In the old days, aspen wood was used to build rapids. It was believed that they absorbed all the negative energy of the guests entering the house, thereby protecting the owners of the home. Aspen trees cut down and planted at the four ends of the village protected the inhabitants from various diseases, such as cholera epidemics.

Application in medicine

Aspen is a tree valued for its bark, leaves, buds and young shoots. Preparations made on the basis of this raw material have antimicrobial, antitussive and anti-inflammatory effects. They are widely used in the treatment of smallpox, tuberculosis, diarrhea, cystitis, syphilis and many other diseases. They are used externally to heal wounds, burns and ulcers.

Well, now it has become known to you what an aspen tree is, where it grows and what unusual properties it has.

Trembling poplar (aspen) - (Populus tremula L.) is one of the most common types of poplars, belonging to the genus poplar (Populus) of the willow family (Salicaceae). Distribution area - the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Western Europe, East Asia. It is located on the territory of many nature reserves in the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Far East, the Crimea, and the Baltic states. It grows in different types of forest as an admixture and a secondary species, and also occasionally forms pure aspen forests. In the mountains it can rise to a height of 2000 m. In many regions of the Far East, from Kamchatka to Primorye and the Kuril Islands, a species close to aspen grows - Populus davidiana Dode.
In the steppe zone, where together with the oak it reaches the southern border of the distribution of forest vegetation, it forms dense thickets along the forest edges, preventing representatives of steppe phytocenoses from penetrating under the forest canopy. This feature of the aspen is used to create shelterbelts in the steppe regions.

This is a large tree up to 35 m high and 1 m in diameter with a rare crown and light greenish-gray bark. Old branches are strongly “broken”, with well-marked leaf scars. Young shoots are round, without ribs and stripes, often glabrous and as if varnished, but sometimes slightly pubescent, greenish or greenish-brown. Aspen prefers rich, well-drained soils. Light-requiring and very winter-hardy. Like all poplars, aspen is a dioecious plant, but not with a clear distinction between sexes. Many trees have flowers of both sexes, but one of them is sharply dominated (usually male). Some trees have flowers of only one sex.
Flower buds are thick, dark, greenish chestnut or reddish brown, not very sticky, at first pubescent, then glabrous. Aspen blooms in late April long before the leaves bloom. Male catkins with brown-brown scales, blooming, sharply lengthen (up to 10 cm), and their yellowish-green pollen is carried by the wind for many kilometers.

aspen seeds

Seeds ripen a month after pollination (at the end of May). The fruit is a capsule with small seeds. The seeds are very small and are equipped with white silky hairs - bats. Seeds begin to fall out of the boxes by the end of May.

Thanks to the hairs, the seeds are easily transported over considerable distances. Aspen bears fruit annually and abundantly, but its seedlings rarely appear, since very favorable conditions are necessary for this, and seed germination drops extremely quickly.

aspen leaves

Leaf buds are 5-10 mm long, glabrous, sticky, usually pressed against the shoot. Aspen leaves are gray-green, round, leathery, crenate (round-toothed), wedge-shaped or slightly heart-shaped, gray-green at the base, slightly pubescent during growth, later glabrous.

They sit on long petioles flattened laterally. This does not allow the petioles to bend, but makes the leaf blade oscillate and tremble even with slight air movement, for which the tree was so named.

Glands at the ends of the lower leaf teeth can secrete nectar when young.

aspen bark

The bark of the aspen is at first smooth gray-green, then fissured dark gray.

Aspen root system

The aspen root system is powerful, superficial, consisting of very long roots that diverge in different directions from the tree by 25 and even 30 m. The root system is moisture-loving, demanding on aeration and not cold-resistant. Therefore, aspen does not grow on dry sandy and frozen soils. Unlike other poplars, aspen does not withstand prolonged flooding and therefore does not occur on a low floodplain.

Aspen breeding

Aspen reproduces mainly by root shoots, which grow very quickly and have very large, rounded or broadly ovate leaves with an elongated top. Stump growth is formed only on the stumps of young aspens, the butt part of which did not have time to crust. The appearance of root shoots is stimulated by forest fires, warming the dormant buds of very shallow roots.
The root offspring of aspen are photophilous and soon die under the closed canopy of forest stands. But when the forest stand burns out and on clearings, they give dense growth. Coppice specimens of aspen in the first year of life are distinguished by long and intensive growth: their maximum daily growth reaches 6 cm and the maximum height is more than 2 m (according to observations in the forest-steppe zone). In the northern regions, the value of these indicators is 3 times less. Then the growth of overgrowth slows down significantly. This allows conifers to overtake aspen in growth even before it dies, which leads to a change in the dominant species.
Aspens have one very characteristic feature - its horizontal roots can grow together both in one tree and with the roots of other trees, which in some cases leads to the creation of a single root system in them. As a rule, root fusion begins at a young age in case of their mutual pressure and most often when the roots are located at an angle of 90 ° to each other or close to it.

aspen forests

Aspen is often considered a nanny tree in relation to spruce. Under the "lighter" crown of aspen, spruce is rapidly regenerating and its undergrowth is growing. Aspen leaves enrich the soil well due to the fact that they decompose faster than the leaves of other forest trees. Finally, the roots of spruce go deep into the soil, often along the paths formed from rotten aspen roots.

Aspens have many different life forms. So, for example, in aspen forests one can often find forms with green or gray bark. In the latter, the base of the trunks is usually much darker than in the greenskins. The difference in the color of the bark is especially noticeable in the spring, before flowering, at a time when intensive sap flow began. Individual aspen trees also differ in terms of leaf blooming, so in spring you can see "early" and "late" specimens in terms of the time of appearance of leaves. In addition, there are individuals that are characterized by vigorous growth and are considered "gigantic" and are therefore valuable in forestry. This form has a triploid set of chromosomes (Populus tremula gjgas), while individuals with a diploid set of chromosomes predominate in nature.

The use of aspen

Aspen wood is white, with a greenish tint, light, easy to peel, moderately soft, has no heartwood and consists only of sapwood (sometimes a false reddish-brown heartwood is observed).

The annual layers are hardly visible. The medullary rays are not visible.
Matches, ethyl alcohol are made from it, it is used in the hydrolysis industry, suitable for turning. Aspen wood is low in calories, but produces a long, low-smoking flame that is suitable for making pottery and bricks.
The so-called plowshare was made from aspen wood - special-shaped planks that were used in Russian wooden architecture to cover the domes of churches. The play of chiaroscuro on old shares gives the coatings created from them a silvery sheen.

Wood is used for buildings and a variety of crafts, for the production of cellulose, wood pulp and wood shavings.

Medicinal tincture of the kidneys is used for dysentery, gastritis, hemorrhoids and cystitis. Pounded in the form of an ointment, they are used for chronic ulcers, joint pain, and for wound healing.

A medicinal decoction of the tree bark helps to improve the functioning of the digestive tract, with diarrhea, gastritis.

Fresh aspen leaves are used to treat hemorrhoids. For rheumatism and gout, the leaves are used as a poultice. The juice of fresh leaves is used to treat lichen and remove warts. Harvesting of medicinal raw materials Harvest buds, leaves and aspen bark. The bark of the medicinal aspen tree is stored during sap flow, making ring cuts on the young branches of the tree, then connecting them with longitudinal cuts and removing them. Aspen bark is dried in the shade, spread out in one layer.

Common aspen buds are harvested at the beginning of swelling in early spring. Air dry in the shade or in ventilated areas.

Medicinal preparations from aspen

Infusion for fever and colds

Brew 1 teaspoon of common aspen buds with a glass of boiling water, leave for about an hour, drain through gauze, squeeze the raw material. Use 5-6 times a day for 1-2 tbsp. spoons.

Decoction for diarrhea

Pour a glass of boiling water over 1 tbsp. a spoonful of aspen buds and boil over low heat for about 25 minutes, then leave for 45 minutes, drain through cheesecloth, squeeze out the raw material. Eat 1-2 tbsp before meals. spoons 3 times a day.

Decoction for nephritis

Pour a glass of boiling water over 1 tbsp. a spoonful of young bark, leaves, aspen twigs, boil for 10 minutes over low heat, then cool, peel, drain through cheesecloth. Drink 1/2 cup 3 times a day.

Tincture

Fill with vodka aspen buds in a ratio of 10:1. Then insist for 72 - 96 hours, filter. Use 3 times a day for 10 - 20 drops.

Ointment for joint pain

Mix the crushed aspen buds in equal amounts with vegetable oil.

With hemorrhoids

Apply tree leaves to hemorrhoidal bumps for 2 hours, then wash the sore spot with boiled cool water. Carry out the procedure 3 times a week.

Aspen - contraindications

Most often, aspen drugs are easily tolerated. But do not forget that you do not need to prescribe them for chronic intestinal diseases with constant constipation.

Aspen or poplar trembling- Populus tremula L. - a tree from the willow family (Salicaceae) 15-20 m high. In good conditions, the aspen reaches larger sizes. For example, in the Bryansk region, a noticeable area is occupied by 50-year-old aspen forests with trees 25 m high. And in the Tver region, among the impenetrable sphagnum swamps, hillocks (remains of a moraine) rise, on which exceptionally large aspens grow: a height of 35 m, trunks up to 80 cm in diameter, and is only about 75 years old. The bark of the trunks is predominantly gray, but there are aspens with a greenish bark, and in Eastern Siberia and Mongolia they are almost white-bark, from afar they can be mistaken for birches. The bark is smooth, only in old trees with longitudinal cracks.
The leaves are alternate, rounded-rhombic or rounded, 3-7 cm long and wide, glabrous, green above, bluish below, with uneven large rounded teeth along the edge. Leaves turn yellow and purple in autumn. Aspen owes its scientific name - “trembling poplar” to leaves (they have long petioles). Look carefully at the aspen. Even when there seems to be no wind, its leaves are constantly trembling. Hence the saying: "It trembles like an aspen leaf." The mobility of the leaves is carried out due to flattened petioles, thinner in the middle than at the edges. On coppice shoots, the leaves, as a rule, are larger and of a different shape - triangular-ovate with a pointed apex.
Aspen flowers are small, dioecious, collected in inflorescences-earrings from 4 to 15 cm long. All species included in the willow family are dioecious plants, that is, only male flowers develop on some individuals, and only female flowers on others. Both those and other flowers are arranged very simply, even primitively. They have no perianth at all. Male flowers consist of 5-8 stamens with red anthers, while female flowers consist only of a pistil with an upper ovary and two purple stigmas. Aspen blooms before the leaves bloom, in April.
The fruits ripen a month after flowering, open on the first hot days: in late May - early June. Fruits - 2-leaf boxes with numerous small seeds, equipped with fluffy bats in the form of a bundle of hairs. 1000 aspen seeds weigh only tenths of a gram. They fly very far, because because of their lightness they hang in the air for a long time and are carried by the wind for a considerable distance. So aspen conquers new territories. Her fruiting is plentiful and annual. Experts have calculated that up to 500 million aspen seeds ripen per 1 ha of aspen in harvest years.
The seed begins to germinate a few hours after it hits moist soil - the seed coat bursts, two tiny cotyledons are exposed. A day later, a root appears. By autumn, the seedling has a stem the size of a pencil and a taproot up to 30 cm long. Aspen grows very quickly, especially when young. At the age of 20, the trees have a height of 10 meters, and by the age of 40 they reach the maximum size in height. Aspen does not live long - 80-90 years, but individual trees live up to 1 40-150 years.
In the first years of life, the aspen has a pronounced taproot. However, soon it stops growing, but the lateral roots grow very vigorously. They lie very shallow, in the upper soil horizon, move away from the mother plant far to the sides and give abundant root shoots. Coppice shoots grow very quickly - in the first year they reach half a meter in height. It is through the shoots that aspen largely renews and spreads, although seed reproduction is expressed in it. Many aspen forests are composed of trees of exclusively coppice origin.

Aspen spread

The range of aspen is the temperate zone of Eurasia and the mountains of North Africa. A significant part of the range falls on our country. In Russia, aspen is distributed almost everywhere. In the north, it reaches the border of the forest with the tundra, in the south - to the dry steppes. In the forest-steppe, it forms island groves, the so-called "aspen groves". In saline areas, it takes a bushy form. In the Alps it rises to mountains up to 2,000 m above sea level. Almost everywhere, aspen forms, as a rule, pure forests, with only a small admixture of other species in the upper tier. It is very photophilous, therefore, where other breeds obscure the aspen, it dies. Aspen itself often acts as an admixture in birch forests or in lightened areas of other forests.
Aspen forests most often appear on the site of oak and spruce forests brought down by man or destroyed by fire. Such aspen trees live for a relatively short time - 80-100 years. They are light, which allows undergrowth of bedrock species (oak, spruce, etc.) to successfully grow under their canopy, even if it is not shade-tolerant. Over time, the indigenous tree species that have grown under the canopy of the aspen forest overtake the aspen in growth, shade it, and it dies, giving way to its stronger competitors. Thus, aspen plays an important biological role - preserving the forest area, it contributes to the restoration of oak and spruce forests.
Aspen can also act as a pioneer tree species. For example, abandoned arable lands in the Non-Chernozem zone of Russia quickly overgrow with forest and turn into dense aspen or birch forests (aspen-birch forests form in places). But even they will not last long - under their canopy, again, an environment is created for the settlement of indigenous, more durable species: spruce, oak, linden, etc.

Economic use of aspen

aspen wood soft, light, but fragile. She goes to various crafts, such as wooden shovels, spoons, ladles and other hollowed and carved utensils. Plywood is made from it, as well as chips (shingles), with which roofs are covered. In sparsely forested areas, aspen trunks are also used as a building material for the construction of residential buildings, sheds, and other outbuildings. Unfortunately, aspen wood is easily affected by fungi that cause rotting of the core of the trunks, so choosing a good building material in an aspen forest can be difficult.
But aspen wood found its main use in match production. It is from it that matches are made, without which it is impossible to imagine our life. What conquered the matchbox aspen? Certainly not trembling leaves. The main advantage of its wood is the absence of resins and tannins in it, which give off a smell when burned. In addition, it is light and burns well when dry, without soot. For the manufacture of the so-called match straw, it is also important that aspen wood easily splits in the right direction.
In sparsely forested areas, aspen in bulk is used for firewood, but their calorific value is rather low.
Aspen bark, despite its bitter taste, serves as food for wild game animals. Moose gnaw bark from growing trees, and hares clean fallen or sawn aspen trunks from it. Bees collect pollen from aspens, as well as resinous kidney secretions, which are then converted into propolis.

Medicinal value of aspen and methods of therapeutic use

In scientific medicine, aspen has not found application. Among the people, it is widely used for medicinal purposes. Kidneys, leaves, bark are used for medicines. Aspen in paganism had a good meaning as a tree full of excess of life; its leaves are always trembling, oscillating, talking among themselves. That is why this tree was considered especially saving against any evil spirits. According to popular belief, vampires can only be killed by piercing them with an aspen stake.
According to folk healers, aspen preparations have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and diuretic effects.
Aspen bark and buds contain tannins, bitter glycosides, benzoic acid and other substances. Alcoholic extract of aspen buds has a bactericidal effect on some dangerous microbes (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enteric-typhoid bacteria). It is better to harvest buds from young trees in spring - in April-May.

Aspen buds insist on vodka or 70% alcohol in a ratio of 1:10 for a week. Take 25-30 drops in water 3 times a day. This tincture is used for acute chronic cystitis and weakness of the bladder, for gout and rheumatism.

A decoction of a young, greenish bark is good for inflammation of the bladder and kidneys: pour 1 tablespoon of crushed bark with 1 glass of water, boil over low heat for 15 minutes. Take 2 tablespoons 3-4 times daily before meals.

Take a pinch (1 heaping tablespoon) of buds or aspen bark in 500 ml of boiling water. Boil 15 min. Insist, wrapped, 3 hours. Take, for coughs, colds, as a diuretic and diaphoretic, 1 cup 3 times a day, sweetened with honey. In addition, it is a good appetizer.

Boil one tablespoon of dry chopped aspen bark for 30 minutes. over low heat in 2 cups of water. Insist, wrapped, 3 hours. Take 1/5-1/4 cup of Zraza daily before meals in the initial stages of diabetes. Drink up to 3 months or more. A decoction of aspen bark also helps with gastritis.

Mix aspen wood ash with vaseline in half or in a ratio of 1:4. With the resulting ointment, treat the areas affected by eczema.

Crushed, scalded with boiling water, young aspen leaves put on hemorrhoidal cones and leave for 2 hours. If these poultices bother the patient, remove the leaves, repeat the procedure after 1-2 days.

Folk medicine from different countries recommends patients with prostate hypertrophy alcohol tincture of aspen bark: 5 tablespoons of crushed bark per 0.5 liter of vodka, leave for 2 weeks. The bark is removed in early spring, young, greenish, from thin branches. Tincture is taken in a dessert spoon once a day shortly before meals. Instead of the bark, you can infuse the kidneys in the same way and take 20-40 drops 3 times a day.

Ointment from the kidneys is an excellent remedy for treating cracks in the chest and nipples: mix 1 part of the kidneys and 2 parts of pork fat, grind and cook over low heat until completely dehydrated, strain. The same ointment can also be used to treat hemorrhoidal bumps.
Dried and powdered aspen buds, mixed with fresh butter, serve as an anti-inflammatory and wound healing agent for burns, chronic ulcers and are used to soften hemorrhoids.
In ancient herbalists, good advice was given: for inflammatory processes in the mouth, use a decoction of the bark of aspen, oak, alder.
Alder and aspen bark and scrape evaporate with water, soak, strain, and after steaming with molasses, hold that water in your mouth, but don’t let it into your larynx at all - and that clay (mucus) will perish.

In the Explanatory Dictionary of V. I. Dahl we find: fever and teeth speak on aspen. Having cut a triangle out of the bark (in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit), they rub their gums until they bleed and apply it again in its place.
The people know one original simple way of external use of aspen juice with table salt for toothache. They take a fresh aspen log, drill through its middle (but not completely), put salt into the hole and plug it. They throw the log into the fire and, not allowing it to burn to the end, pour out the salt, already saturated with juice, from the hole. This salt is placed on a sore tooth or diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 to rinse the mouth.

Vitamin decoction can be prepared from aspen leaves: pour 1 part of crushed leaves with 4 parts of boiling water, boil for 10-15 minutes, cool and strain. Acidify with vinegar and take 1 tablespoon 3-4 times a day. Autumn leaves give a decoction containing 1.5 times less vitamin C than spring and even summer ones. Remember this! For the winter, you can also prepare vitamin syrup from aspen leaves.
In Russian villages, peasants remarked: if it brings the legs together, an aspen log placed in the legs helps, and from headaches - under the head.

Housekeeping Council: so that the cabbage does not peroxide, put an aspen field in it.
According to Sedir, it is ruled by Saturn and is healing for Capricorn and Aquarius.

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