The wild plant blue cornflower has been known to people for a long time. While still exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun, scientists, along with gold items, found wreaths of cornflowers there. Of course, these were dried flowers, but they retained their color and shape well.
Description
Cornflower blue is a one- or two-year-old herbaceous plant, common for Russian fields and wastelands, growing from 25 cm to a meter. It belongs to the Asteraceae family and is considered a weed. It has a straight or slightly branched from the middle, grayish with a green tint stem with woolly lanceolate leaves. The picturesque inflorescences of cornflower are collected in basket inflorescences on long pedicels.
Flowering begins in May and ends only by August. Then the seeds ripen, collected in smooth seed boxes with tufts.
Botanists know up to 700 different types and shades of cornflowers. But the most common are plants that have baskets of light blue, blue and purple flowers. They are also used as medicinal plants.
There is a blue cornflower in the field, in the meadows, along the roadsidesroads, as well as among crops of rye, wheat, barley, flax. It prefers sandy soil, but is distributed throughout almost the entire territory of the former Soviet Union. You will not see these flowers except in the Far North and in the deserts.
Etymology of Latin and Russian names
Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus gave this plant the majestic name "centaurea cyanus" - in honor of the centaur Chiron, a character of Greek mythology, who cured the wounds inflicted on him by Hercules with the miraculous juice of wild cornflowers. The cornflower is sometimes called the centaur flower for this reason.
Healed various diseases with the help of cornflower and the ancient Greek god of doctors Asclepius.
What is "cyanus"? And this is an indication of the color of the petals, the word means "blue".
However, there is also a legend about the origin of the second part of the name. This story claims that there once lived in ancient Rome a young man with that name. His favorite pastime was to spend time in the field among blue cornflowers and weave wreaths from these flowers. And he only wore blue clothes. One day, among the cornflower bushes, he was found dead, and the goddess of flowering and resurgent nature Flora, feeling a special favor for the young man, turned his body into a cornflower and ordered to call these plants Cyanus.
One of the old legends told us about the origin of the Russian name of the plant. It tells about how a mermaid once fell in love with a young plowman named Vasily. She wanted to take him tohis water element so that he was always there, but the young man was able to resist her charms. And then the vindictive river maiden took revenge on him, turning him into a modest meadow plant with blue flowers, which the people began to affectionately call - Cornflower.
In areas where the blue cornflower grows, it was also called a button, hair, blavat, blue flower, cyanosis, patchwork, etc.
The use of blue cornflower in herbal medicine and traditional medicine
Decoctions and infusions based on blue cornflower are one of the oldest medicines known to the people. Healers believe that the greatest useful power of the cornflower lies in the extreme petals of flowers.
Modern research has proven the presence of centaurin, cyanine and cyanidin glycosides in the flower petals of this plant. Rare substances such as lead, selenium, boron, aluminum, and quinine were also found there. This plant also contains tannins with vitamins (ascorbic acid and carotene), organic acids, mineral s alts, a number of fats and mucus.
For internal use in the form of medicinal infusions, cornflower is useful as an antispasmodic, diaphoretic and antipyretic. Cornflower is a well-known diuretic (diuretic). It is also used as a mild sedative to relieve a strong heartbeat.
Combined with nettle, marigold flowers, pansies, walnut leaves and horsetail grass, cornflower helps in the treatment of dropsy, liver disorders (as a choleretic) and nervous diseases. Chronicdiseases of the kidneys and urinary tract such as cystitis and pyelonephritis are also treated with cornflower infusions.
The scope of application of dried cornflower flowers as part of preparations for external treatment is very extensive: these are wounds that do not heal for a long time, boils, warts.
Eye inflammations (blepharitis, conjunctivitis), lacrimation, eye fatigue are usually treated with a collection that includes (one part) flowers of eyebright, cornflowers and elderberry.
In a manuscript of the XYII century, information was found about such a medicinal use of cornflower:
Eat the seed of cornflowers crushed, sprinkle on warts, tacos will pull the root out of them and exterminate them, then nicoli do not grow in that place
Contraindications
When using cornflower for medicinal purposes, we must not forget that this medicinal herb is not recommended for pregnant women and young children due to its slight toxicity. Since the chemicals that make up the composition of the cornflower thin the blood, its use is contraindicated in diseases that may be accompanied by bleeding.
In addition, the cyanogenic glycosides that make up this plant can accumulate in the body.
Chronic patients taking other medications should also be careful: the interaction of the chemical components of cornflower with other drugs has not yet been studied enough. In any case, do not experiment on your he alth, consult with a specialist first.
How to make an infusion
The infusion is prepared nextway: take a full teaspoon of dried flowers, brew it with boiling water (1 cup). Then we close and insist for an hour. Take this infusion three times a day 15-20 minutes before meals. One dose is based on half a glass of strained liquid.
The same infusion can be washed with trophic ulcers and other wound surfaces, as well as used as baths for joint diseases and simply to relieve tired legs.
Compresses from a cooled infusion - 30 g of cornflower, brewed with 0.5 liters of water and infused for an hour - are practiced in the treatment of varicose veins.
To wash the eyes, the infusion should be made more concentrated. In this case, a tablespoon of medicinal raw materials is poured with boiling water.
Other cooking methods
If you brew a heaping teaspoon (with a slide) of cornflower flowers in a glass of boiling water and let stand for half an hour, you get a drink that quenches thirst, which will also help with the onset of a cold and relieve a headache.
Vodka tincture of cornflower, which is considered the most effective in the treatment of certain diseases, is quite simple to prepare: medicinal raw materials (one part) are poured with ten parts of vodka, infused for 2 weeks and filtered. Take with genitourinary and renal diseases before meals, 20 drops dissolved in water. The tincture prepared in this way can also be used as a skin rub.
Use in magic
In the old days it was believed that this plantstrong positive energy, aimed at the destruction of evil spirits, wherever it starts. But it is impossible to use cornflowers as a talisman of the premises, they were used only as a tool to combat harmful vibrations. Therefore, leaving these flowers in the room overnight, they were removed in the morning.
To remove spoilage or the evil eye from a person, an infusion was prepared from cornflower flowers collected on the full moon: they poured raw materials with hot water and insisted for two hours. After that, a few tops of hyssop officinalis, wormwood and garlic husks were added. It was believed that this infusion would be especially strong if left at midnight under a luminous moon.
In the morning, the infusion made in this way could wash the sick, as well as spray the rooms.
During field work, cornflowers were planted along the edges of fields with wheat or rye to protect the future crop from damage or the evil eye.
How to harvest
For medicinal purposes, cornflower flowers are harvested during the entire flowering period. Whole, fully bloomed flower inflorescences-baskets are torn off, from which the corollas of those flowers that are located on the edge are pulled out. As part of medicinal raw materials, the content of internal tubular flowers is unacceptable.
The collected flowers are immediately laid out on clean sheets of paper or canvas. You can dry the plants in a dryer at a temperature not exceeding 50 °. Flower petals that have lost their color during drying will no longer be medicinal. They should be removed from the finished raw material.
Dry cornflowers are stored in a sealed container without access to light andmoisture.
Dry flowers are odorless, but cooked infusions taste bitter. The period of use of flowers as a medicinal raw material is two years.
Cornflower roots, which are also used in traditional medicine, are harvested in the same period as flowers. They are cleaned and dried as usual. Roots will retain their properties if kept in cardboard boxes or paper (canvas) bags.
Other uses of colors
A plucked cornflower is not made for bouquets - once plucked and placed in a vase, it will quickly wither. But it will retain its natural colors well in dry bouquets - the so-called dried flowers.
Dried flowers and leaves are added to tobacco to enhance flavor and also to preserve some foods.
Blue flowers are used as a dye for wool.
Beekeepers know that cornflower is an excellent honey plant, and where this plant grows, bees will always find their prey.
