White Bryonia. Bryonia alba. Medicinal plant seeds.

White Bryonia. Bryonia alba. Medicinal plant seeds.

An interesting and very rare creeper with strong medicinal properties. The plant is poisonous, but also medicinal.

Bryonia or White Bryonia has been known since ancient times, found in the works of Hippocrates and Ibn Sina. It was recommended to take it in cases of dizziness, epilepsy, cough, snakebites and liver diseases.

Perennial liana. Stems up to 2-4 m long, climbing with unbranched tendrils, bare or covered with small spines.

It has a large, fleshy, tuberous wintering root.

The leaves are on long stems, ovate-triangular in outline, 5-7 lobed, heart-shaped, unevenly coarsely toothed, rough.

White Bryonia is a dioecious plant: The fruit is a black berry.

Blooms in May-June.

White sow thistle grows well in any soil. But a fertile substrate with neutral, slightly acidic or alkaline acidity is suitable for it. It grows poorly in shady places. When planted in open ground or in a pot, the plant will need fertilizing throughout the season.

In winter, sow thistle must be covered. It can also be grown in a pot and overwintered indoors.

As a medicinal raw material, the fresh root of the plant is used, which is collected before flowering. A tincture is prepared from it for external use in the treatment of radiculitis, neuritis, rheumatism, lumbago, plexitis. In folk medicine, it is used as a hemostatic and analgesic.

The root is usually used as a medicinal raw material. The roots are harvested before flowering begins in early spring (April-May) or late autumn, since at this time they have a high content of useful substances. The roots are dug up with a shovel, cleaned of soil and aboveground parts, washed in cold water, then cut into thin slices. They are dried in an attic or under a canopy with good ventilation. The raw materials are usually spread in a 2–3 cm layer on paper or cloth and systematically mixed. To speed up drying, pieces of roots are tied to a string and hung in the shade. Due to the toxicity of the roots, care must be taken when preparing the raw materials. The crushed and thoroughly dried raw materials are placed in a glass jar and tightly closed with a lid. The finished raw materials should be stored for no more than 2 years. Fresh roots can be stored in the same way as vegetables, especially carrots and radishes.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, this must be taken into account when choosing a place to plant the plant. Very small doses of the plant are used in medicine.

The seeds are sown in a prepared place with the onset of autumn so that they undergo natural stratification under the snow cover and under the influence of low temperatures. Before sowing seeds, the soil should be carefully dug and fertilized.

Seeds sown before winter, as soon as the soil warms up in spring, germinate well and do not require special care.

Within 1-2 months, the seeds are placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and then planted in May.

Seeds in a package of 3 pcs.