Linden is a beautiful tall tree with a dense round-conical crown. The bark of the linden tree has a dark grayish-brown color and is mottled with longitudinal grooves. In the forest, these grooves are the easiest way to distinguish a linden tree from other trees.
Linden tree small-leaved and large-leaved
In Europe, two main types of linden are widespread - small-leaved (heart-shaped) and large-leaved (there is also tomentose linden, but it grows only in the southeast of Europe). Their obvious differences are the size of the sheet, its color reverse side and the time of flowering of the tree.
Leaves small-leaved linden 5-8 millimeters long, heart-shaped, jagged along the edges, glaucous and matte below, with slightly reddish hairs at the corners of the veins.
The large-leaved linden has leaves from 6 to 12 millimeters in length, green underneath, and the hairs at the corners of the veins are hard, white and clearly visible.
Linden tree is the best honey plant
The linden tree blooms late, in July (the large-leaved one is two weeks earlier than the small-leaved one), with yellowish flowers collected in 5-8 pieces in umbrella inflorescences. Linden flowers secrete a lot of pleasantly smelling nectar (in large-leaved linden up to 2.5 mg per day), which bees tirelessly collect. Therefore, the linden tree is considered excellent honey plant, and linden honey is the best and most healing.
The fruits of the linden tree are smooth nuts 4-6 millimeters in size, with a bract. They fall from the tree and are carried by the wind throughout the area all winter, and the leaf is a kind of sail. However, once on the ground, linden fruits never germinate in the first year, since they need a long period cooling. This is such a strange linden tree - it cannot develop normally without cold.
How is the linden tree useful for the forest?
There is almost never a layer of foliage under the linden tree. Linden leaves rot very quickly and return the calcium necessary for plant growth to the soil. Linden is an excellent neighbor for pine. It has been noticed that pine trees develop better if linden trees grow among them.
The linden tree is a winter nurse for woodpeckers and jays, as well as chipmunks, squirrels and other forest rodents. The food is linden nuts, which the birds peck and the animals drag into their pantries.
What are the benefits of the linden tree for humans?
Everyone knows about the benefits of the healing properties of linden honey. First of all, it is an effective medicine for treating colds. But linden flowers also have healing properties. It is no coincidence that linden blossom is used as a raw material in the manufacture of some medicines.
White linden wood is very soft. This makes it unsuitable for making furniture, but an indispensable material for artistic carving and making various wooden crafts(toys, kitchen utensils, musical instruments, etc.). In the old days, bast was torn from the bark of a young linden tree and bast shoes were woven from it; today linden bast is also used for weaving baskets and decorative items.
Linden can grow for hundreds of years. Old trees have a dense, spreading crown that reliably protects from the sun even on the hottest day. Therefore, linden trees are often planted in recreational areas, and at all times the linden tree has been a valuable avenue tree.
The tree has a wide tent-shaped crown up to 30 meters high. The average lifespan of linden trees is about 150 years, but there are also long-livers with an age of 1200 years. The plant has a straight trunk, reaching a diameter of up to 5 meters, covered with gray fissured bark.
Linden blossoms in June, filling the space around it pleasant aroma. It begins to bear fruit in August in the form of round nuts in a dense shell. The plant is frost-resistant and can withstand frosts down to -40 degrees. The cordate linden is distributed throughout almost all of Europe, partly in Southeast Asia, and central Russia, while the European linden grows only in Europe. The heart-shaped linden is part of mixed-deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests. Selects well-drained, structured soils with sufficient moisture. Linden reproduces using seeds. It is susceptible to some diseases and has a number of pests - soldier bug, silver hole, gypsy moth, bark beetles, lumberjacks, etc.
Linden is an excellent honey plant, and linden honey has been valued since ancient times for its excellent taste qualities, pleasant aroma and its healing properties. During flowering, a bee colony can collect up to 5 kg of honey from one tree in one day, and 1 hectare of linden plantations can produce up to 1.5 tons of sweet and useful product. Linden honey is useful for various colds, in turn, it was used for skin diseases.
IN folk medicine All parts of a given tree are used: flowers, leaves and wood. Our ancestors used wood charcoal to quickly heal wounds, as well as to treat stomach pain. Infusions and decoctions were used for burns and as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. Decoctions and infusions of the flowers of this plant are an excellent diaphoretic and were indispensable for colds.
IN modern medicine linden takes its toll worthy place. Linden flowers and bracts are popularly used as a diaphoretic, and infusions from them are used for inflammation of the mouth, throat and sore throat. Linden flower tea treats colds, flu, pneumonia (pneumonia). Infusions can be used (together with flowers) in the form of compresses and lotions. For disorders nervous system It is recommended to take baths with the addition of linden decoction. Besides, lime tea has a diuretic effect and is used in the treatment urolithiasis, cystitis, pyelonephritis and hypertension.
Linden is harvested as a medicinal raw material from spring to late autumn. In the spring, buds are harvested, and when the leaves bloom, buds with leaves are harvested. The harvested raw materials are dried under a canopy or using dryers. The shelf life of such medicinal raw materials is about 2 years.
Linden bark is harvested in early spring, before the start of sap flow, or in late autumn. It is dried and then ground into powder and can be stored in this form for 2 years.
Flowers, along with unopened buds, are harvested, naturally, during the flowering period. Collection is carried out over 10-14 days in dry weather. It is not recommended to prepare wet raw materials, since during the drying process it will change its color from golden, pleasant, to dark, unpleasant. The flowers are dried under a canopy for 5 days. Consequently, the dried raw materials have a pleasant appearance and aroma. Can be used for 2 years.
In the old days they said: “The pine tree feeds, the linden tree puts on shoes.” The remarkable qualities of linden bark and wood formed the basis for its widespread use. Freshly harvested wood or bark was very soft, and therefore they sewed bast shoes from it, made ropes, and various boxes. Linden wood was even used in warfare: they wove quivers for arrows from linden bast and made protective shields. Once dried, the wood and linden bark became very hard. Knowing this, our ancestors made from it kitchen utensils: cups, ladles, jars. In addition, the wood of this tree was used to make toys, souvenirs, sleighs, and carved frames. Baths and all kinds of accessories for it were built from it: brooms, ladles, vats for water. People who visited the bathhouse drank mead and linden tea from linden cups and tubs. Linden wood is unique in its properties. It is lightweight and very easy to process. In addition, barns were made from it, since linden wood is not liked by rodents.
Linden has powerful and, at the same time, soft energy: the ancient Slavs considered this tree sacred. She was personified with the goddess of love Lada, who brought happiness and beauty. Its energy can relieve people from depression and charge them with vital energy, creating a feeling of inner peace.
In the old days, village estates were literally planted with linden trees. They were almost everywhere: in gardens, in parks, and entire alleys were formed from them. In the village of Mikhailovskoye there is still a linden alley; the same linden alley is located in Yasnaya Polyana, where Leo Tolstoy loved to walk. This is probably why our ancestors supplied a lot of linden honey to Europe, and in those days the trade of beekeeping became very widespread. Nowadays, linden is used to make wooden lining, which is successfully used to decorate bathhouses and other rooms. The lining has unusual look, durable and not afraid of moisture, tolerates temperature changes well, is easy to install and has light weight. In addition, linden wood retains heat well and fills the room with a luxurious aroma.
Linden wood has been successfully used in aircraft modeling. It may still be used today, although it is being replaced by lightweight and durable composite materials.
Linden flowers are used in modern cosmetology and are used for skin and hair care. They cleanse the skin, relieve inflammation, and have a calming effect. Decoctions and steam baths are made from the flowers. They have a beneficial effect on any type of skin.
Tilia cordata
Taxon: Malvaceae family ( Malvaceae)
Other names: small-leaved linden
English: Small-leaved Lime, Little-leaf Linden
The name comes from the Latinized Greek word tileia- , Latin cordatue- heart-shaped, which is due to the shape of the leaves.
Botanical description of linden
Linden heart-shaped - a tree up to 20-25 m in height, with a large spreading crown. Dark, almost black deeply fissured bark; young branches are red-brown, usually glabrous. The leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, heart-shaped, blades 5-10 cm long, dark green, serrated above, with a long-pointed apex, usually symmetrical, less often unequal, the width is almost the same as the length, the leaves below are bluish-green, with tufts of yellowish-green brown hairs at the vein nodes. Linden leaves bloom in May-June. The flowers are yellowish-white, fragrant, 10 mm in diameter, collected in 3-15 pieces in half-umbrellas. Each inflorescence contains a pale yellowish-green elongated-lanceolate thin bract about 6 cm long, fused with the peduncle up to half its length. The fruit is a single-seeded nut, 4-8 mm in diameter, spherical, tomentose-pubescent, with a woody or leathery shell, brown; seeds are broadly obovate, 4-5 mm long, shiny, red-brown. The heart-shaped linden blossoms in late June - July, the fruits ripen in August-September.
Linden flowering lasts 2-3 weeks, hot weather even less. Flowers are pollinated by insects, mainly bees. The fruits fall in whole clusters in winter and are dispersed by the wind. In the first years, linden grows slowly, from 4-5 years of age growth accelerates, from 60 years of age it slows down again, and at 130-150 years of age it stops completely. The lifespan of linden is 300-400 years, but individual trees live up to 600 years. It also reproduces by stump shoots and layering; In many forests, the linden tree is entirely of coppice origin. Linden is extremely shade-tolerant and grows well next to oak trees and coniferous trees. Has a well developed root system. Heart-shaped linden is demanding soil fertility, does not tolerate waterlogging. Resistant to cold, due to the relatively late leaf opening, it does not suffer from spring frosts. Every year fewer and fewer linden trees remain on Russian soil. In the forests it is mercilessly cut down, but in cities, among asphalt, it grows for only about 60 years. But during this time, it provides enormous assistance to humans: for example, a linden tree absorbs up to 16 kg of carbon dioxide in a year of its life - this is 1.5 times more than oak, and 5 times more than spruce.
Where does the heart-shaped linden grow?
Various types of linden are found throughout Europe. The cordate linden grows in the mixed forest zone of central European Russia, the western foothills of the Urals, in Bashkiria, Western Siberia, the Caucasus, Moldova, Crimea, and Ukraine.
Collection and preparation of heart-shaped linden
WITH therapeutic purpose They use linden inflorescences (linden blossom) together with a bract - the fly.
Flowers are collected at a time when most of the flowers have bloomed, and the other part is still in the budding stage. Raw materials prepared at a later time, when some of the flowers have already faded, turn brown when dried, crumble heavily and become unusable. From one young tree growing on the edge, you can collect 0.7-1.5 kg of fresh inflorescences. The raw materials are dried immediately after collection under a canopy, in a ventilated room, in the attic or in a dryer at a temperature of 40-50 ° C, spreading in a layer of 3-5 cm. Readiness is determined by the fragility of the peduncles. You cannot dry it in the sun, as the raw material loses its color. The humidity of raw materials is allowed no higher than 12%. Store in a well-ventilated area, protected from light. When properly stored, raw materials do not lose their properties for 3 years.
Chemical composition of linden
Linden flowers contain essential oil, which contains farnesol, glycosides hesperidin and tiliacin, saponins, flavonoid glycosides quercetin and kaempferol, tannins, vitamin C (31.6%), carotene.
Linden leaves contain a lot of protein, 131 mg/% vitamin C and carotene.
The fruits contain about 60% fatty oil, close in quality to Provencal oil, and in taste - to almond or peach
Triterpene substances - tiliadin and oil - up to 8% were found in linden bark.
Pharmacological properties of cormatata linden
The healing properties of linden are associated with quercetin and kaempferol. Tiliacin has activity. Linden preparations have a calming, diaphoretic, expectorant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, emollient effect, stimulate the stomach, and moderately reduce blood viscosity.
Use of linden in medicine
Linden preparations are used internally for increased nervous excitability, convulsions, chest pain, abdominal pain, chronic cough, accumulation of sputum in the lungs, abdominal pain caused by liver blockage, kidney diseases, childhood infections, as an auxiliary diaphoretic for influenza and acute bronchitis, insomnia, externally for rinsing the mouth and throat in inflammatory diseases, for washing the face to give the skin elasticity.
Tea made from fresh or dried linden flowers is an antispasmodic, diaphoretic, expectorant, hypotensive, and sedative.
. .
Linden tea is also used in the treatment of indigestion, hypertension, hysteria, nervous vomiting and palpitations.
Medicinal preparations of cormatata linden linden color
: pour 2 cups of boiling water over 2 tbsp. l. crushed linden flowers, leave for 20-30 minutes. Drink 2-3 glasses a day as tea for colds, headaches, fainting, for gargling with sore throats and in the mouth during inflammatory processes.
Gargle and wash with a more concentrated infusion to soften the skin of the face.
Unstrained infusion with steamed raw materials or young fresh leaves and kidneys are prescribed in the form of compresses for inflammation of hemorrhoids, breastfeeding, rheumatism, gout, burns.
Decoction of linden flowers prepared at the rate of 3-4 tbsp. l. crushed flowers in 2 cups of water, boil for 10 minutes, filter.
Linden charcoal. Coal made from linden wood is used for flatulence and diarrhea, in the treatment of gastric or dyspeptic disorders; powdered charcoal is used externally for burns or inflammation of the skin.
Fresh linden leaves help with - they cover the head.
Using linden inflorescences for cosmetic purposes
The pulp of brewed flowers is used as an emollient for poultices.
For dry skin, it is recommended to wash your face with a cold infusion of linden blossom. To refresh a tired face, apply a facial compress. Brew linden blossom and mint tea, strain and reheat. Pour hot into a large cup. Place a cup next to it cold water, prepare two soft cloth napkins. Soak a napkin in hot tea, wring it out, place it on your face and hold for two minutes, then replace it with a second napkin soaked in cold water. Change the compresses 2-3 times, the last one is cold, keep it for 5 minutes.
Linden blossom infusion: throw a handful of linden flowers into a glass of boiling water and leave it for 15 minutes, wrap it warmly, add 1/4 tsp to the infusion. honey Moisten your face and neck generously with the infusion and hold for 10 minutes. Place the remaining infusion in a cold place and repeat the procedure the next day. Shake before use. This wonderful product helps to rejuvenate the face, become beautiful and attractive.
Lotion for dry skin: infusion of linden flowers (1.5 tbsp flowers per glass of boiling water) mixed with 1 tsp. honey Wipe your face instead of washing.
For sagging facial skin, it is useful to make a hot compress of linden blossom, hops, and mint. Dried herbs are brewed with boiling water (1 tablespoon of the mixture per glass of water), leave for 15 minutes, strain. Soak a linen cloth in the hot broth, wring it lightly and apply to your face. Once it cools down, dip it into the hot solution again, squeeze it out and make a new compress. Repeat for 5-8 minutes.
Lime blossom decoction stops hair loss: 8 tbsp. l. linden blossom pour 0.5 liters of water and boil for 20 minutes. Cool, strain. Wash your hair with the resulting decoction.
For burns, use a decoction of linden blossom (4 tablespoons of flowers, pour 0.5 liters of water and boil over low heat for 10 minutes). You can also use a paste of linden flowers in the form of a poultice for burns.
The active time of linden is from 2 to 6 o'clock. It rests from 6 to 7 o'clock. The energy of linden is strong and soft. It causes a feeling of warmth and peace, relieves oppression and... It is best to communicate with the linden tree in the afternoon, in the summer, and always in warm, dry weather.
Use of linden on the farm
Linden - main honey plant forests and parks of Russia. There are up to 17 million linden flowers per 1 hectare of linden forest with a total supply of nectar of more than 1.5 tons. good years one bee family takes up to 5 kg of honey per day from a linden tree and up to 50 kg during the entire flowering period. Linden honey is considered the best for its taste and healing qualities.
On Far East and in Korea, buds and young leaves are used after cooking in salads.
Fresh young linden leaves are suitable for preparing spring vitamin salads.
If necessary, you can cook porridge from young linden shoots (the softest and most tender tips of the branches - no more than 10 cm). The twigs are cut into pieces of 2-3 cm, each piece is cut into several thin strips along the fibers, and then boiled in slightly salted water until completely softened.
Edible oil is obtained from linden fruits, which taste like nuts.
A paste of crushed flowers and unripe fruits is used to prepare a very acceptable quality chocolate substitute, however, the resulting chocolate paste is prone to decomposition and is therefore not marketed.
Linden blossom is widely used instead of tea; it has a sweet, pleasant aroma. Linden flowers are used to flavor alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Linden juice- Harvested in the spring, it is sweet and can be used as a drink or processed into syrup.
Linden wood is very light, white or cream, and easy to process. It is used to make tubs, troughs, beehives, dishes, furniture, etc., and burns excellent quality coal. Wood waste containing large amounts of starch is ground and fed to livestock. Bast (bast) is used for mats, mats, washcloths, various weaves. The linden matting bags were in old times the most common container in Russia, and bast bast shoes are the everyday shoes of rural residents. They made ropes from bast, made harnesses, purses and other household items.
Used Books
1. Maznev N.I. Encyclopedia medicinal plants. 3rd ed. - M.: Martin, 2004
2. U.P. Hedrick, E.Lewis Sturtevant. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972. ISBN 978-0486204598
3. Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Margaret Grieve Paperback, 1931
4. Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. 1995, ISBN: 978-0888503343
5. Edmund Launert. Guide to Edible and Medicinal Plants of Britain and Northern Europe. Hamlyn, 1989. ISBN-13: 978-0600563952
6. J. Triska. The Hamlyn encyclopedia of plants. Hamlyn, 1975
7. Uphof. JC Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants, Second edition. Cramer, Wiirzburg, 1968
8. Johnson, C.P. Useful plants of Great Britain. 1862
9. Jean Lauriault. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada. Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1989
Tilia cordata Mill. - a large, well-known tree from the linden family (Tiliaceae) with a slender trunk up to 25 m high and a wide crown. The bark is brown, smooth on young trunks and branches, and with grooved cracks in the upper layer on thicker ones. Linden has a well-developed root system with a deeply penetrating taproot, making it wind-resistant.
The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, from 2 to 8 cm long and wide, pointed at the apex, finely serrated along the edge of the blade, with well-defined venation, green above, glabrous, slightly bluish below, with tufts of yellowish-brown hairs along the veins. Leaf petioles are long, tomentose, turning red in autumn. On coppice shoots the leaves are much larger - up to 12 cm in length and width. Linden is distinguished by its late leafing out; it becomes green in our forests almost the last, at the end of May and even in June (only oak puts on leaves later than linden).
The flowers are yellowish-white, fragrant, up to 1 cm in diameter, collected in 3-15 corymbose inflorescences, equipped with a yellowish-greenish lanceolate-shaped leaf, fused with the axis of the inflorescence up to half its length. Each flower has a 5-leaf calyx, a 5-petalled corolla with a diameter of up to 1 cm, many (up to 30) stamens fused into 5 bunches, a pistil with an upper 5-locular ovary, a short thick style and 5 stigmas. Linden blooms in July (less often at the end of June), flowering lasts 2-3 weeks. Flowers are pollinated by insects.
The fruit is a spherical nut with a diameter of 4-8 mm with a rather thin and fragile shell. The fruits ripen in September, but fall from the trees only in winter, when the trees are already bare. Whole inflorescences fall off and are carried by the wind, and the preserved bract serves as a sail. In winter, after a thaw, when the snow compacts and becomes covered with a crust (infusion), the wind carries linden fruits across the infusion like small ice buoys.
Linden reproduces in nature mainly vegetative way: layering and stump shoots. In many linden forests, the entire tree stand is essentially of coppice origin. However, it is not for nothing that the linden produces so many fruits; the seed path of renewal is also not alien to it. In forests where there are at least single linden trees, linden seedlings can almost always be found. Let us note, however: not everyone will guess that the shoot with two leaves, the blade of which is strongly dissected, belongs to a linden tree; these leaves are very different from those hanging on the tree.
During the first 5 years of life, linden seedlings grow slowly, then growth accelerates, and from about 60 years of age it slows down again. At 130-150 years old, the linden tree reaches its maximum growth and practically no longer increases in height, but its crown and trunk thickness continue to increase even more. for a long time. The linden tree lives for 300-400 years; individual trees are known to live up to 600 years.
Spread of linden
Range of the heart-shaped linden- Europe and adjacent areas of Asia. It is widespread in the middle and southern zone of the forest zone and forest-steppe of the European part of Russia. Separate fragments of the range of this species are represented in Western Siberia (island linden forests in Kuznetsk Alatau and other places). It forms pure forests (linden forests), and is found as an admixture in deciduous and mixed forests, where the basis of the tree stand is made up of other species, such as pedunculate oak. Often forms the second layer in oak forests and coniferous-deciduous forests. Demanding on soil fertility, does not tolerate waterlogging.
It is widely grown in urban plantings along streets, in parks and squares, as well as in roadside plantings. It tolerates crown trimming well. In Moscow and other cities of European Russia, along with cordate linden, large-leaved linden (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.), native to Central Europe, is widely represented in plantings. It differs from our domestic linden more large leaves and flowers, as well as earlier flowering (about 2 weeks).
Linden is an exceptionally shade-tolerant tree species, so it can grow even in the second tier of dense spruce forests. Its growth is not hindered by shading. At the same time, the linden tree itself, which develops a large crown rich in leaf mass, provides dense shade, which prevents the regeneration of many trees and shrubs under its canopy.
Other related linden species
In the Far East, there are local species of linden that are equivalent in healing properties to cordate linden and are morphologically similar to it: Amur linden (Tilia amurensis Rupr.), Manchurian linden (Tilla mandshurica Rupr.), etc.
Economic use of linden
Like any tree species, linden has the widest use of wood. It is light, soft, and although it is not very suitable for construction, it is indispensable for the manufacture of many carpentry products. Linden is used to make tubs, beehives, furniture, dishes, and drawing boards. But it is especially valued by artists specializing in such an art form as wood carving. Bizarre cornices, delicate images of fruits, flowers, cupids, which amaze us in the palaces of the 18th-19th centuries, were mostly carved from linden wood. And in churches, icon frames often owe their pretentiousness to linden.
No matter how unusual it may seem, waste from linden wood processing in the form of sawdust, stumps, and shavings can serve as feed for livestock, as they contain a lot of starch. Naturally, before feeding waste, it must be dried and ground into powder. Linden produces first-class charcoal.
Of no less interest to National economy represents linden bark, or rather it inner part- bast It is used for matting, mats, washcloths, and various wicker products. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, linden matting bags were the most common container in Russia. The bark of young linden trunks is called bast. The everyday shoes of the Russian peasant - bast shoes - have been made from bast for many centuries. Ropes, all kinds of harnesses, and various bags and purses were made from it. Bark stripped from old trunks covered the roofs.
It is difficult to find a person who does not know that linden is an excellent honey plant. In places where there is a lot of it, despite the short flowering period, bees manage to collect abundant bribes from linden trees - one bee colony (or rather, one hive) can produce up to 5 kg of linden honey per day. This honey is distinguished by its transparency, unique aroma and taste; it is deservedly highly valued as a wonderful food and medicinal product.
Linden inflorescences (“linden blossom”) have long been used as a substitute for tea in Rus'. They are used to flavor alcoholic drinks. Young, newly blossomed linden leaves are also used for food. Leafy linden branches are excellent food for livestock. They are harvested in the summer, tied like brooms and hung under the roof of barns and houses. In this state they dry out, and in winter they are gradually fed.
One cannot fail to mention the beauty of linden trees. This breed has long been bred as decorative tree in Russian noble estates. Alleys were laid from it, many of which have survived to this day, although they are already 150-200 years old. Now linden is lined with city streets and boulevards; it forms the basis of many parks.
Features of the preparation of medicinal raw materials of linden
Collect Linden blossom during the full bloom of flowers. The collection period is short, because the linden tree blooms for only 10-20 days. It is, of course, advisable to cut or pick individual inflorescences so as not to cause damage to the trees. But in practice, usually with garden shears on a long pole, they cut off branches abundantly planted with flowers and pick off the inflorescences from them. With careful harvesting in this way, you can ensure minimal damage to the tree (you need to take only part of the branches from each tree, while trying to cut off the entire branches, but only their apical part). From one tree you can collect up to 1.5 kg of fresh inflorescences.
We remind you that under no circumstances should linden blossoms be harvested on city streets or in roadside plantings, no matter how attractive they look here blooming linden trees. Air pollution from vehicle engine exhaust makes raw materials collected near roads and in street plantings unsuitable for either treatment or tea.
The collected raw materials should be dried without delay to prevent them from turning black. Air dry it in the shade, in ventilated areas, spreading it in a thin layer on a clean bedding. The inflorescences should not be overdried so that they do not fall off individual flowers. Properly dried raw materials have a pleasant honey aroma.
Medicinal value of linden and methods of medicinal use
Medical raw materials with the trade name “Linden flowers, or linden blossom” are inflorescences collected together with the bracts. They contain essential oil, carotene, flavonoids, saponins, ascorbic acid and other substances.
In scientific and folk medicine, linden inflorescences are prescribed as a diaphoretic for the prevention and treatment of colds. They are part of the sweatshop taxes. Linden infusion also has bactericidal properties, so it is effective as a rinse for the mouth and throat for various inflammatory diseases; it is also prescribed for sore throats (it’s a good idea to add 5 g of baking soda to a glass of warm broth).
Excellent medicine is linden honey. Like linden tea, it is effective against colds and is very useful for many other diseases and ailments.
For colds, there are several ways to prepare linden infusion and decoction for sweating. 10g (3 tablespoons) of raw materials are placed in enamel dishes, pour 200 ml (1 glass) hot boiled water, close with a lid and heat in boiling water (in a water bath) for 15 minutes, cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, filter, squeeze out the remaining raw materials. The volume of the resulting infusion is adjusted to 200 ml with boiled water. The prepared infusion is stored in a cool place for no more than 2 days. Take hot, 1-2 glasses 2 times a day after meals as a diaphoretic, diuretic and antimicrobial agent.
Two tablespoons of inflorescences are brewed as tea in 2 glasses of boiling water, boiled for 10 minutes, filtered and 2-3 glasses drunk hot at night.
One tablespoon per 1 glass of water, boil for 30 minutes. The solution obtained in this way also has antiulcer, desensitizing activity, stimulates the regeneration of soft tissues and the performance of the body.
Linden blossom has been known in folk medicine since ancient times. From linden flowers you can prepare a wonderful drink with a pleasant aroma and a beautiful golden color - linden tea, which has a healing effect: diaphoretic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, emollient. Tea perfectly quenches thirst. Just don’t go outside immediately after drinking tea.
They tear flowers with narrow yellowish leaves, i.e. whole inflorescences, in dry weather in the morning. Dry in an oven or in the sun. Before brewing, dried linden blossom is lightly fried to improve the flavor bouquet. To increase sweating, you can add the same amount of raspberries to the kettle.
Place equally 2 tablespoons of a mixture of linden blossom and raspberry fruits into 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 5-10 minutes, strain. Drink hot in one dose for colds and flu.
A hot 10% decoction of linden inflorescences along with honey or raspberry jam before bed is healing.
Since ancient times, linden blossom has been known in peasant life in Rus' as a blood purifier, analgesic, sedative, and diuretic and was used for rheumatism, gout, abdominal pain, kidney stones and gallstone colic, and inflammation of the female genital area.
The linden bark is crushed and mixed with cold water, the inside cleanses and moves.
The juice is squeezed out of the pimples that are found on linden leaves, and with this we will anoint the bodily uncleanness, and so the body will become clean and smooth.
The leaves of the linden tree, when they spread out anew, are boiled in wine and consumed, any outflow (swelling) of the interior will fall from it.
Ancient herbalists report that linden blossom is beneficial for hypochondriacs and people prone to strokes; tincture of linden blossom was used to cure “old epileptic disease.”
Not everyone knows that linden blossom can also treat nervous diseases. A strong decoction - 5 tablespoons of crushed inflorescences per 0.5 liters of water, boil for 30 minutes. - helps with neuroses, strong nervous disorder, frequent fainting, convulsions.
But it has a more clear anticonvulsant effect alcohol tincture linden inflorescences, which is prepared as follows:
Fill the jar to the top with a loose layer of freshly dried inflorescences, without compacting them, and fill with vodka to the very edge; leave for 2-3 weeks. Take 7 teaspoons 3 times a day, and before bedtime increase the dose to 1 tablespoon. Unfortunately, stale linden blossom does not give the desired effect.
For children suffering from seizures, it is more beneficial to give fresh linden juice, collected in early spring at the beginning of sap flow.
Linden has a disinfectant effect, so an infusion of inflorescences is used to rinse the mouth and throat for sore throat.
Brew 20 g of linden blossom in 1 cup of boiling water, cool to the temperature of fresh milk, add 5 g of bicarbonate of soda (dissolve soda in warm broth).
Mix well linden blossom with sage and chamomile in equal parts, brew 1 teaspoon of the mixture with 1 glass of boiling water. Apply the infusion every 2-3 hours.
Linden fruit powder stops bleeding from the nose and wounds.
For breastfeeding, ulcers, burns, hemorrhoids, swollen joints, painkillers and anti-inflammatory poultices are effective.
Boil 2-4 tablespoons of linden leaves with boiling water, wrap in gauze and place on the sore spot.
Lubricate or make compresses on the affected areas from fresh linden bast. It is good to apply to painful hemorrhoids.
A pulp of fresh leaves and leaf buds is used as an emollient.
Consumption and diathesis were treated with the inner layers of fresh linden bark, taken internally. You can also drink mucous decoctions from linden leaves or bark.
Dried linden branches are burned on a fire or in a stove. Choose coal. Crushed, 3-4 teaspoons are taken orally for bloating or diarrhea. When treating tuberculosis, take 1 teaspoon of charcoal diluted with goat's milk.
Linden is known as a remedy for stopping hair loss.
Eight tablespoons of linden blossom are poured into 0.5 liters of water and boiled for about 20 minutes. The resulting decoction is used for washing hair.
Masks and decoctions of linden blossom are an indispensable product for caring for dry skin. Linden decoction refreshes and tones it well. Concentrated warm linden decoction can be added to any nourishing cream.
Take 2 teaspoons of nourishing cream for dry skin and mix with 2 teaspoons of concentrated hot decoction of different herbs and linden color. The warm mass is applied to the face and neck in the form of a mask.
It is very useful, instead of washing, to wipe dry facial skin with a cold infusion of linden blossom (from dry raw materials). In combination with honey, this procedure has a rejuvenating effect. In combination with dill, it tones sagging, wrinkle-prone skin.
Recipes for therapeutic nutrition from linden
Linden seeds are very nutritious, they are consumed in the same way as hazelnuts or walnuts, from them an oil is obtained that is close in quality to olive oil and tastes like almond oil.
Fresh leaves are used to make salads, dried leaves are added to dough.
Salad of linden and dandelion leaves
Young linden leaves are washed, finely chopped and mixed with crushed dandelion leaves, green onions and dill. Season with sour cream or vegetable oil. Linden leaves - 50 g, dandelion leaves - ZOg, green onions, greens
dill, 1 tablespoon of sour cream or vegetable oil, salt.
Young leaves are dried and stored in paper bags. Dried leaves, ground into powder, are added to the dough for vitaminization.
Linden flower jam
The flowers are cut off from the stalks, placed in a colander, washed with water and placed in an enamel bowl. Prepare syrup (400 g of sugar, 1 liter of water per 1 kg of flowers), boil it, filter and pour boiling syrup over the flowers, ensuring that they are completely immersed in the syrup. In 5min. add until the end of cooking citric acid(3 g per 1 kg of flowers). The finished jam is packaged in sterile jars and cooled.
Linden is popularly called unmercenary.
“Whoever approaches the linden tree will leave with goodness,
He will prepare the leaf and feed the cattle,
It will protect you from the heat and rain and calm your heart.
The bee will collect honey
The owner will leave with a broom,
He will put on shoes, dress, drink, warm,
It will drive away a bad cold.
People remember whoever plants the linden tree,
God prolongs his life.”
According to Raphael, the linden tree is ruled by Jupiter, the ruling planet for people born under the signs of Sagittarius and Pisces. According to Sedir, linden is ruled by the Moon and is healing for those born under the sign of Cancer.
Linden - description of the plant
Linden- tree up to 20 - 30 m in height, with a large spreading crown. The bark is dark, almost black, deeply fissured; young branches are red-brown, usually glabrous. The leaves are alternate, long-petiolate, heart-shaped, blades 5-10 cm long, dark green, serrated above, with a long-pointed apex, usually symmetrical, less often unequal, the width is almost the same as the length, the leaves below are bluish-green, with tufts of yellowish-green brown hairs at the vein nodes. The leaves bloom in May-June. The flowers are yellowish-white, fragrant, 10 mm in diameter, collected in 3-15 pieces in half-umbrellas. Each inflorescence contains a pale yellowish-green elongated-lanceolate thin bract leaf, about 6 cm long, fused with the peduncle up to half its length. The fruit is a single-seeded nut, 4 - 8 mm in diameter, spherical, tomentose-pubescent, with a woody or leathery shell, brown; the seeds are broadly obovate, 4 - 5 mm long, shiny, red-brown. Flowering lasts about two weeks. Blooms in late June - July. The fruits ripen in August-September.What parts of the linden tree are used for medicinal purposes?
For medicinal purposes, linden inflorescences (linden blossom) are used together with the bract - the fly.The collection is carried out at a time when most of the flowers have bloomed, and the other part is still in the budding stage. Raw materials prepared at a later time, when some of the flowers have already faded, turn brown when dried, crumble heavily and become unusable. The raw materials are dried immediately after collection under a canopy, in a ventilated room, in the attic or in a dryer at a temperature of 40 - 50 ° C, spreading in a layer of 3 - 5 cm. Readiness is determined by the fragility of the peduncles. You cannot dry it in the sun, as the raw material loses its color.
Chemical composition of linden
Linden flowers contain essential oil, which contains farneaol, glycosides - hesperidin and tiliacin, saponins, flavonoid glycosides quercetin and kaempferol, tannins, vitamin C (31.6%), carotene. Linden nectar contains about 40% sucrose and about 12% glucose and fructose. Linden leaves contain a lot of protein, 131 mg% vitamin C and carotene. The fruit contains about 60% fatty oil, similar in quality to Provençal oil. A triterpene substance was found in the bark - tiliadin and oil up to 8%.Linden - medicinal, beneficial properties
The healing properties of linden are associated with quercetin and kaempferol. Tiliacin has phytoncidal activity. Linden preparations have a calming, analgesic, choleretic, diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, emollient effect, stimulate the stomach, and moderately reduce blood viscosity.Linden preparations are used internally for increased nervous excitability, convulsions, chest pain, abdominal pain, colds, chronic cough, accumulation of phlegm in the lungs, abdominal pain caused by liver blockage, kidney disease, hypertension, childhood infections. As an auxiliary diaphoretic for influenza and acute bronchitis, insomnia, externally for rinsing the mouth and pharynx for inflammatory diseases, sore throats, for washing the face to give the skin elasticity.
Linden - use in folk medicine
- Linden blossom infusion: pour 2 cups of boiling water over 2 tbsp. l. crushed linden flowers, leave for 20 - 30 minutes. Drink 2 - 3 glasses a day as tea for colds, headaches, fainting, for gargling with sore throats and in the mouth during inflammatory processes.
- Unstrained infusion with steamed raw materials or young fresh leaves and buds are prescribed in the form of compresses for inflammation of hemorrhoids, breastfeeding, rheumatism, gout, and burns.
- A decoction of linden flowers is prepared at the rate of 3 - 4 tbsp. l. crushed flowers in 2 cups of water, boil for 10 minutes, filter.