Traveler plant: why is it called that?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Like many people, plants love to travel, conquering not only thousands of kilometers of space, but hundreds of time years. The geographical discoveries of past times contributed to the wide distribution of plants that multiplied in new conditions for them and became familiar and necessary products on the dinner table. Corn, tomato, potato, pepper, tobacco, sunflower, beans were brought to Europe after the discovery of America.

Habitual plants - guests from distant lands?

Once considered an overseas curiosity and a rare expensive delicacy, potatoes - a resident of the South American Andes mountains - were imported to Europe by the Spaniards in the 16th century on caravels loaded with gold and silver. The Russians first became acquainted with it at the end of the 17th century and at first grew it as an ornamental crop; noble ladies even decorated themselves with its flowers.

In Russiathe traveler plant potato was considered a very rare dish on the royal table; in 1741, at a ceremonial dinner for the entire court, only 500 grams of it were served. They did not know how to grow potatoes properly and ate poisonous berries, not tubers. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that it began to be used in its usual quality, the product took pride of place on the dining table of every person.

Tomato (tomato) - a native of Peru (it is there that it can still be found in the wild with fruits the size of a cherry and weighing no more than 5 grams), translated from Italian means "golden apple". Europe became acquainted with the tomato brought from South America at the end of the 18th century; in Russia, this plant as a food crop appeared in the middle of the 19th century. For a long time, Americans considered the tomato poisonous, even trying to poison George Washington, the first president, with its fruits.

A sunflower is also a traveler?

The sunflower, a plant familiar to us, is a guest from distant Mexico, whose inhabitants considered it a sacred flower, embodying the Sun and worthy of admiration.

Having arrived in the 16th century from America to Europe, the traveler plant became an adornment of the royal garden in Madrid. Then the French elite fell in love with him: the king of France, Louis the Fourteenth, ordered the fields located near Versailles to be planted with sunflowers. Peter the Great also fell under the spell of the solar plant when he saw it in Holland. The young tsar sent home a bag of sunflower seeds, where they were grown in the Kremlin garden, like an overseasmiracle. With an easy suggestion by quick-witted Russians, sunflower seeds began to be used as a treat, and the fragrant and tasty oil from the same seeds made sunflower indispensable and widespread.

The traveler plant cucumber - a heat-loving culture and a familiar product for us - turns out to be also a visiting guest, whose historical homeland is considered to be Southeast Asia and India. The remains of cucumbers, placed as food for the dead, have been found in the oldest Egyptian tombs, and carved drawings of this vegetable can be seen in Indian temples. Cucumber came to Russia in the 10-11th century from Byzantium and is now grown throughout its territory, both in open ground and in greenhouses.

Plantain travels the planet on soles

From herbal crops that have become widespread in Russia, I would like to single out plantain. Its medicinal properties are known even to a child; a leaf applied to the wound stops the blood and soothes the pain. Why is plantain called a travel plant?

Because this culture is spread over most of the planet and has been revered in many countries since ancient times. Italians, Greeks, Persians and Arabs highly praised this plant for its healing properties. Plantain is able to protect against evil forces, relieve headaches, help with mosquito and bee bites, and reduce inflammation in the body. Among the Americans, this travel plant is also called the "white man's footprint", sinceit was with the "white man" that this plant appeared on their continent. Moreover, it is unlikely that the settlers brought it around the world on purpose; probably, the seeds of the plant were accidentally mixed with other seeds or imported on the soles of shoes and other items. This fact proves the amazing vitality of such a magical plant. In Russia, the plantain got its name from the place of growth: it can most often be found along the roads.

Visiting weed plants

From America to Europe, odorous chamomile was brought, which in the 70s of the 19th century appeared in large quantities on the slopes of railway embankments, from where it migrated into the mainland, where it spread everywhere. This traveler plant could get to Europe along with purchased grain, which, apparently, was not carefully cleaned from weed seeds. They woke up through the cracks of the cars and dispersed.

Some traveler plants (water hyacinth and Canadian elodea) have become a real scourge for most regions. Elodea at the bottom of reservoirs forms real green meadows, which creates tangible obstacles to navigation and fishing. For unpretentiousness and high adaptability to any conditions, she was nicknamed "water infection" or "water plague".

Now all the reservoirs of Asia and Europe are covered with this plant.

The water hyacinth is not inferior to the Canadian water hyacinth - the worst weed of all reservoirs and rivers, covering the water surface with a dense carpet. Imported from America as an ornamental plant, he very quickly got hisdistribution in the waters of Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, Japan, Asia and Africa.

European gifts to America

Not only America has enriched Europe with popular cultures. European and Asian countries also did not remain in debt, introducing Americans to rice, wheat, barley, sugar cane, beets and other crops. Many travel plants have a close relationship with humans, being part of the so-called synanthropic group (from the Greek "syn" - together, "anthropos" - a person). It was the connection with man that led to their wide distribution, as a result of which many became cosmopolitans and occupy most of the land. Such plants include white quinoa, dandelion, shepherd's purse, annual bluegrass.