Populus plant. Poplar is a natural filter for polluted air

Not every tree has the ability to secrete poplar fluff: male plants are harmless and do not cause trouble. Therefore, people who plant these plants do everything possible to prevent females from appearing on the city streets.

But everything is not so simple: poplars have one unpleasant feature. They are very fond of changing their gender when, for unknown reasons, female catkins suddenly form on a male plant. This mainly happens in large cities with unfavorable environmental conditions. For this reason, culling female trees does not particularly solve the problem of the presence of poplar fluff.

Poplar trees belong to the genus of deciduous trees from the Willow family. They are distributed in the temperate latitudes of Eurasia and North America, while covering part of the subtropical regions of China and Mexico, and are found in East Africa.

In nature, they grow along rivers and on well-moistened slopes; some species can be found in the sand. At the same time, they need soil rich in micro- and macroelements and do not tolerate swampy areas. At the same time, cultivated plants take root perfectly on any land.

The poplar genus has more than a hundred species, which are divided into six main sections:

• Mexican - plants of this group have the smallest height. They are a cross between aspen and poplar, common in Mexico and the USA;
• Deltoid - triangular-shaped leaves are located on long petioles. These trees are characterized by a pyramidal crown;
• Leucoids - considered the most ancient group of poplars. The leaves, catkins and buds of poplar of this species are characterized by large sizes;
• Popolus or folk - representatives of this group are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete a sticky substance, and they are also characterized by the presence of long petioles, which is why the foliage begins to move at the slightest breath of wind. The leaves have a palmate lobe shape and are characterized by snow-white pubescence on the underside. The most famous representative of this group is the silver poplar;
• Balsamic - the leaves and buds of trees are characterized by the presence of a huge amount of fragrant resin;
• Turangi - from a distance very similar to aspen, but have a looser crown.

Description

The height of poplar trees ranges from 30 to 60 meters, the diameter of the trunk is about a meter. Poplars grow very quickly and already at the age of forty years they acquire their final height (if they grow, it is not much), for which at one time this plant was given preference when landscaping streets.

The plant does not live long, usually up to eighty years (old poplar is highly susceptible to fungal diseases), although some species live up to one hundred and fifty.

Poplar roots are thick, strong, and in many species they are located superficially, and therefore extend quite far away from the tree. At the same time, some species, for example, silver poplar, produce many offspring on their roots, from which new trees grow.

The wood of the tree is soft and very light, the trunk is straight, the crown can have a wide variety of shapes: tent-shaped, ovoid, ovoid-pyramidal or pyramidal poplar is often found. The gray bark of a tree becomes covered with small cracks with age, while a poplar branch, on the contrary, has a smooth bark.

Both the leaves and flowers of the plant develop from the poplar bud. Poplar leaves are petiolate, arranged in a spiral along the branch; in some species the poplar leaves are pubescent, in others they are bare. It is interesting that the shape of a poplar leaf largely depends on the shoot on which it grew and even its location on it. Therefore, the same poplar leaves can have a wide variety of leaves - narrow, medium, wide.

Reproduction

Poplars are dioecious trees: to prevent self-pollination, male and female flowers are on separate plants. The sex of a tree is fairly easy to determine before the plant flowers. To do this, remove the bud from which the flower will develop, break it and examine its upper part under a magnifying glass. If the tree is male, grain-like anthers will be visible on the cut, while female trees do not have grains: instead, they have an ovary with a stigma primordium.

The plant begins to bloom in the tenth year of life, like many trees, in the spring or before, or simultaneously with the appearance of leaves. At a certain moment, the sticky poplar buds swell very quickly and immediately bloom. When the flowers appear, the buds remain on the tree for some time, after which they fall off.

The flowers of the plant are collected in inflorescences, shaped like earrings (they can have different shapes: cylindrical, straight or pendulous). Catkins growing on male trees are characterized by a red color, while female inflorescences are yellow with green pistils.

Plants are pollinated in the spring with the help of the wind, which picks up pollen from male trees and transfers it to female plants. As a result, female flowers turn into green boxes, which turn black as they mature.

The box contains black seeds (more than a thousand pieces in one gram). At the base they have a tuft of a huge number of thin hairs, known as “poplar fluff”.

One and a half to two months after pollination, the boxes open, as a result of which the poplar fluff scatters in all directions, and the trees are covered with a white fur coat. Despite the huge number of seeds, most of them do not take root: they very quickly lose their viability, so if the poplar fluff does not have time to deliver them to suitable soil, they disappear. Since the seeds are very light, in order to gain a foothold, they need to cling to something (a pebble, a twig, a straw), otherwise the poplar fluff along with the seed will fly away further.

Harmful effects on human health

Doctors say that patients began to complain about poplar fluff only in the seventies of the last century, when the air in cities began to become more and more polluted every year. Poplar fluff itself can only cause irritation of the mucous membrane, but the fluffs are ideal carriers of pollen and dust, which cause allergies in many people (for example, ragweed blooms can cause such a severe allergy that an allergic person may end up in intensive care).

Another negative point is that poplar fluff has the ability to instantly flare up from any spark, causing numerous fires in the forest (people often make their contribution when they have fun setting fire to the snow-white fluffs).

It’s not just down that’s harmful: often the trees themselves are dangerous. For example, an old poplar tree not only has soft wood that can easily rot, but also weak roots, which makes it extremely unstable. This means that during a thunderstorm with strong gusts of wind, the old poplar can fall at any moment. In the best case, the poplar will fall on the road or buildings, in the worst - on vehicles or people, which can lead to human death.

The benefits of poplar

Doctors say that at one time these trees were planted on city streets for a reason: they absorb about 70% of street dust, dirt and smoke (one old poplar clears the air of forty kilograms of soot and dust), refresh and enrich the air with phytoncides, killing pathogenic microbes. Interestingly, poplars emit several times more oxygen than conifers.

Thanks to the unpretentiousness of these trees, as well as their rapid growth, after the war it was possible to create green spaces for various purposes quite soon. It turned out that an old poplar tree growing near the house, whose height is fifty to sixty meters, serves as an excellent lightning rod.

It turned out to be especially beneficial to plant it within the city, since it not only grows quickly, but is also decorative and has a high ability to reproduce. If previously landscapers tried to separate the males, now many species of trees have been discovered (for example, species such as laurel and pyramidal poplar) that do not have poplar fluff, and therefore are the best option for the city.

At the same time, the old poplar, despite numerous proposals, is not cut down, but they try to trim it in such a way that one can be spared the pleasure of contemplating poplar fluff for about five years.

Black poplar (Populus nigra) is a tall, perennial tree belonging to the willow family. People call it sedge. Under natural growing conditions it can be found in many countries of the world. It prefers to grow in environmentally friendly areas. It can be seen on forest edges, in floodplains and low mountains. It requires silty or sandy soil.

Black poplar grows up to 35 meters in height. ABOUT It is characterized by a wide crown and thick bark of a yellowish color, on which a dirty gray coating and cracks form over time. The long rhizome can extend several meters into the ground. In spring, the plant begins to form large, sticky, resinous ovoid or cone-shaped buds.

During flowering, the tree is covered with inflorescences-earrings, which consist of small flowers. Large, dense foliage has a triangular shape and long petioles. Small, pubescent seeds are collected in capsule fruits. They ripen from mid-spring to early summer and, covered with down, begin to fly over long distances. The lifespan of a tree reaches 200 years.

Black poplar is a tall, perennial tree belonging to the willow family.

Medicinal properties of black poplar

Black poplar buds are mainly used as medicinal raw materials, and less often its leaves and bark. They are rich in carbohydrates, resins, flavonoids, tannins, essential oils, salicin, populin, malic and ascorbic acid, alkaloids, carotenoids, isoprenoids and a number of other useful substances.

Thanks to this specific composition, they have a number of useful properties:

• anti-inflammatory;
• antimicrobial;
• wound healing;
• painkillers;
• calming;
• antipyretic;
• antihistamines;
• diuretics;
• sweatshops;
• antiviral.

With the help of preparations based on the buds and foliage of black poplar, bronchitis, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary system, diarrhea, arthritis, hemorrhoids, rheumatism, tuberculosis, gout, and skin diseases are treated. They help fight chronic fatigue and nervous excitability, increase immunity and performance.

Gallery: black poplar (25 photos)

Medicinal properties of black poplar (video)

Preparation and storage of medicinal raw materials

To achieve the maximum therapeutic effect, you need to collect swollen, but not yet blossomed buds. The collected raw materials are dried in a well-ventilated, cold room so that the buds do not bloom. They are laid out on a clean cloth or paper and stirred periodically. You can also use special dryers with a temperature of thirty-five degrees. Finished high-quality raw materials should have a greenish or yellowish-brown color. Dried buds are scattered in glass jars with lids or paper bags and stored in a dark, dry place. Young black poplar leaves are also dried and stored.

The use of black poplar in folk medicine

Various compounds are prepared from the buds, leaves and bark of black poplar, which are used to treat many diseases.

To achieve the maximum therapeutic effect, you need to collect swollen, but not yet opened buds

Decoction

To prepare the decoction, brew 20 grams of poplar buds with 1 cup of boiling water and simmer for about 15 minutes over low heat. After the composition has cooled, it must be filtered and drunk 100 milliliters three times a day for insomnia, nervous tension, vitamin deficiency and loss of strength. They also treat polyarthritis, cystitis, colds, gout, and joint diseases. In this case, a decoction can be prepared from 1 tablespoon of buds and 1 tablespoon of crushed poplar leaves.

Infusion

An alcohol infusion of poplar buds is prepared from 100 grams of dry raw materials and 1 liter of vodka. The container with the composition must be infused in a dark place for at least two weeks. Take twenty drops in case of gout, sore joints, hemorrhoids, rheumatism. Also the infusion can be used for gargling and mouthwash for sore throat, stomatitis and other diseases.

A decoction of black poplar buds is used for insomnia, nervous tension, vitamin deficiency and loss of strength.

Oily liquid

Take 500 grams of kidneys and 50 grams of any vegetable oil and mix thoroughly. Place the resulting mixture in a saucepan and simmer on a warm stove for 15 minutes. Filter the cooled extract and drink 1 tablespoon three times a day as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and urolithiasis. You can treat a runny nose or sinusitis by dripping 3 drops into both nostrils. For cervical erosion, it is used for tampons.

Ointment

Grind 30 grams of dried black poplar buds and combine them with 3 tablespoons of melted pork or goose fat, you can also take butter. Place the ointment in a glass container, place in the refrigerator and store for a month. This ointment treats varicose veins, joint diseases, gout, and skin diseases. Also it is used to accelerate the healing of boils, wounds and burns.

Long-lasting ointment

Combine 2 tablespoons of poplar buds, 2 tablespoons of chopped young leaves and 5 tablespoons of rendered lard. Fill a clay pot with the resulting mixture, cover it with a piece of dough and keep in the oven at 120 degrees for about twelve hours. Place the cooled ointment in glass containers and store in the refrigerator.

Benefits or harms of black poplar in the city (video)

Baths

To prepare a bath, you need to steam 50 grams of kidneys with 500 milliliters of water and boil on a warm stove for 10 minutes. Next, you need to let the broth brew for at least three hours, filter and pour into the bath. The duration of the procedure is 15 minutes. Such baths are recommended for hemorrhoids, and also as a sedative. You can add a small amount of young crushed poplar leaves to the buds.

Hair treatment

Combine 20 grams of poplar buds with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and leave for a month. After this, apply the resulting solution to the scalp several hours before washing. Carry out the procedure several times a week for a month. This will help prevent hair loss, stimulate hair growth, improve hair structure, make it smooth and shiny.

Medicinal tea

Take 20 grams of dry poplar leaves and the same amount of black tea, add 500 milliliters of hot water and leave for about 15 minutes. After the time has passed, drink as regular tea. Such the drink allows you to quickly get rid of headaches, and also enrich the body with useful substances.

The buds and leaves of black poplar are an excellent remedy with a minimum of contraindications.

Bark decoction

Steam 20 grams of poplar bark with 250 milliliters of hot water and simmer in a water bath for 10 minutes. After time, the broth should be cooled and filtered. Drink 50 milliliters of decoction three times a day for diarrhea. After the problem disappears, stop taking the composition so as not to cause constipation.

Syn.: sedge .

A large, deciduous tree with characteristic delta-shaped leaves on long petioles that secrete a fragrant resin when young. It is known as a melliferous, essential oil, dyeing, medicinal, timber and ornamental plant.

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Flower formula

Formula of black poplar flower: ♂ * O 0 T 2-∞ P 0, ♀ * O 0 T 0 P (2).

In medicine

In scientific medicine, ointment from black poplar buds is used
in surgery as an analgesic and astringent. Currently, infusion and ointments of black poplar buds are used as an anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antiviral agent in the treatment of acute respiratory diseases and chronic bronchitis with purulent sputum, lung diseases, colds, flu, hemorrhoids, cystitis, vitamin deficiencies, and rheumatism. The content of poplar essential oil is associated with such kidney properties as expectorant, antiulcer and regulating the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, a liquid extract was obtained from the buds and leaves of black poplar, which was used for excessive sexual arousal, especially for spermatorrhea. In recent years, information has appeared about the positive therapeutic effect of tincture from black poplar buds for Trichomonas colpitis.

Contraindications and side effects

In other areas

Poplar buds are part of Riga balsam. Essential oil from poplar buds is used in the perfume industry to flavor soap and as a fixative. Black poplar buds are part of the Forest Air collection, used for baths.

Black poplar leaves are used for tanning leather and making yellow dye for fabrics. In fishing, dried and ground annual shoots of black poplar mixed with other feed are used to feed fish. Poplar leaves are also eaten by livestock, and beavers readily eat the bark, buds, and leaves. In beekeeping, black poplar is of no small importance as a pergonum, supplying bees with pollen and glue. In addition, bees collect a sticky substance on poplar leaves and buds, which they convert into propolis, which is a valuable medicine.

Black poplar seed hairs are used to make felt and paper. Poplar wood is used for the manufacture of sleepers, plywood, joinery and turning products, for the production of matches and rayon (viscose). Phytoncides from black poplar leaves are widely used in agricultural production; apple and pear fruits treated with it during the growing season and storage are more resistant to various diseases and pathogens. Black poplar is often grown as an ornamental and reclamation plant.

Classification

Black poplar or Osokor (lat. Populus nigra) is a species of the genus poplar (lat. Populus) of the willow family (lat. Salicaceae). There are only 40 species of the poplar genus, but many of them are very famous trees growing in areas with temperate climates. Asia is richest in poplar species, then North America; there are fewer of them in Europe, and very few in Africa.

Botanical description

A dioecious, fast-growing tree (30-35 m in height), with a wide, spreading, highly branched crown, lives up to 200-300 years. The trunk is powerful, with growths at the bottom. In young plants the bark is light gray, in old trees it is almost black, very cracked. The leaves are alternate, without stipules, dense, hard, green above, lighter below. On growth shoots, the leaves are deltoid with an almost straight base on long petioles, and on shortened ones they are triangular with a wedge-shaped base, glandular-serrate at the edges, and elongated into a long point at the apex. Young leaves secrete a fragrant resin. The flowers are small, dioecious, collected in drooping earrings. There are no separate nectaries in the flowers. The perianth is absent. Stamens up to 30. Ovary of two carpels. The formula of the black poplar flower is ♂ * O 0 T 2-∞ P 0, ♀ * O 0 T 0 P (2). The fruit is a single-locular capsule, the seeds are numerous, equipped with long white hairs. It blooms in April–May before the leaves bloom.

Spreading

Black poplar or sedge is a Euro-Siberian species, widespread in central and southern Europe, including Siberia and the Caucasus.

They grow in riverine, floodplain and mountain forests or form small groves. It is found on coastal slopes and light damp places, as well as on pebble and sandbanks.

Regions of distribution on the map of Russia.

Procurement of raw materials

For medicinal purposes, the leaves are used, as well as the bark and leaves. The buds are harvested during the period of sap flow, at the beginning of flowering (April), when they are still hard, dense and sticky. Small branches are cut with saws or secateurs, the buds are picked from them, they are dried under a canopy with good ventilation, then they are dried outdoors in the shade, spread in a thin layer and stirred periodically, or in dryers at a temperature not exceeding 30-35 o C. Bark collected in early spring from felled trees or sawed branches and also dried. Dried buds are used as medicine. The raw materials are bare, oblong-ovate, pointed, shiny leaf buds, covered with imbricated scales, sticky from the fragrant resin covering them (about 1.5-2 cm long and 4-6 cm in diameter). The color of the raw material is greenish or brownish-yellow, the taste is bitter, the smell is resinous-balsamic, humidity is not higher than 12%. Raw materials are stored in closed containers.

Chemical composition

Black poplar buds contain essential oil - 0.5-0.7%, phenylglycosides, flavonoids, malic and gallic acids, bitter resin, wax, gum, tannins and dyes. Poplar bark contains tannins - 3-9%, yellow coloring matter chrysin, glycosides populin, salicin, in the leaves - glycoside salicin, vitamin C - 150-285 mg%, carotene - 33 mg%, also essential and fatty oils.

Pharmacological properties

Black poplar buds are rich in biologically active substances that have anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, diuretic, phytoncidal, antiallergic, analgesic, bactericidal, emollient, and calming (nervous system) effects. In addition, black poplar buds have an antiseptic effect on the bronchial mucosa and dilute sputum in chronic bronchitis with purulent secretion. The antiseptic effect of the kidneys is primarily due to the presence of the glycoside populin.

Use in folk medicine

Poplar bark and buds are used in folk medicine. An infusion of the bark is used for fever. In folk medicine, poplar leaf buds are used in the form of ointments and infusions for gout, burns, hemorrhoids, and rheumatism. In folk medicine in many countries, preparations from poplar buds are most often used for diseases of the genitourinary organs, cystitis, urinary incontinence, painful urination especially after operations), kidney diseases, spermatorrhea, prostatic hypertrophy, prostatitis. Poplar ointment is prepared from kidney extract, which is used as a disinfectant, antipyretic, and diversion agent for rheumatism, wounds and burns. In folk medicine, buds or newly blossoming sticky leaves are boiled or ground with oil, fresh fat and applied to abscesses, cuts, and boils. In addition, preparations from poplar buds are used for neuroses, various types of neuralgia, arthritis, hemorrhoids, intestinal atony, diarrhea, colds, flu, and also as a means of regulating menstruation. Juice of fresh leaves - for toothache and for soothing baths. Preparations from black poplar buds are used for diseases of the genitourinary system, neuroses, arthritis, and colds as an antiseptic, diuretic and diaphoretic. Externally, preparations from black poplar buds are used to treat wounds, ulcers, cuts, bruises, boils, abrasions, for skin diseases and as a remedy against hair loss and hair growth.

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