The field waterpipe, the photo of which is located below, is a herbaceous perennial plant, reaching 120 centimeters in height. It is a noxious weed and commonly grows in crop fields, vegetable gardens and orchards. In addition, the grass is found in ravines and on forest slopes, near roads and human habitats, as well as on river banks. The plant is widespread in almost the entire Russian territory, as well as in Central Asia and the Crimea.
Field thorn has a strong vertical root, from which many horizontal shoots extend, deepening even under the arable layers. There are a large number of vegetative buds on the rhizome. Due to the fact that each of them grows to a depth of more than one and a half meters, the fight against the plant often does not give positive results, and new stems appear again. Spiny leaves have an oblong lanceolate structure. The appearance of a leaf rosette occurs in the spring. The fragrant flowers of the plant form paniculate inflorescences. As for their color, it is usually lilac-pink or pink-purple. Grassthistle blooms throughout the summer and early autumn, and its fruits are brown, obovate achenes.
Being a noxious weed and causing a lot of damage to cultivated crops, the plant also benefits. In particular, it is a very good honey plant, as evidenced by the fact that from one hectare of a bodyak you can get up to 140 kilograms of honey. In addition, vitamin C is present in the leaves of the herb, and in the aerial part of its stem there is a large concentration of tartaric acid, alkaloids, sugar, holim and fatty oils. All this makes it possible to widely use the field flower in cooking. Its young stems and leaves are often added to soups. The only obstacle in this case is the presence of thorns, which must first be cut off. You can also eliminate the bitter taste, for which you should soak the grass in a ten percent saline aqueous solution. The field watercress is often dried and ground to be used in the preparation of soups and sauces in winter. Now the technology of using the plant in cooking has not been developed thoroughly, so it is not yet possible to talk about the nutritional value of the product.
Another area of application of the herb is medicine. The plant was among the medicinal even among the ancient healers. At the same time, all its parts are considered healing - from the roots to the leaves. The wild thistle must be collected during its flowering period, in other words, from June to Septemberinclusive. As an external remedy, herbal water infusion is usually used. It is used to combat skin diseases, as well as in the form of poultices in the event of hemorrhoidal bumps. Decoctions on the bodyak effectively improve the metabolic process, and also help with head pain and neuroses. In folk medicine, the plant is used to cleanse the skin of various skin lesions.
