Badan is a herbaceous perennial plant that is known in our country, first of all, as an ornamental one. But this was not always the case: in Asia they have long been aware of its medicinal properties and are used accordingly. The article will discuss what types and varieties of this plant exist.
Description of the types and varieties of frankincense
Today there are many varieties and hybrids of incense, which are bred in Europe and adapted for growing not only in the central or southern part of the continent, but also take root in the northern latitudes.
Thick-leaved
Mongolian tea, Saxifrage thick-leaved, Bergenia - all these are the names of one plant of the Kamenolomkov family, frankincense. It grows in southern Siberia, in Yakutia, Mongolia, in the northern regions of China, in Korea, Kazakhstan, and Primorye.
Herbaceous perennial up to 60 cm high. The stalk of burgundy is not leafy, strong and powerful. Foliage growing from a basal rosette, large smooth and leathery, dark green in color, turns red by autumn. Winter spends greens in the snow, lives up to three seasons.
Did you know? The Latin name Bergenia is given by the name of the German botanist K. A. Von Bergen (1704–1759 g).
Small flowers are collected in panicle inflorescences, usually various shades of purple and pink.The fruit is an elongated oval shaped box with seeds inside. Flowering occurs at the end of spring - the beginning of summer, until young leaves appear.
The plant can often be found on rocks, rocky slopes and talus. It grows best in the wild in places protected from the wind. The habitat reaches heights of about 2 thousand meters above sea level. The saxifrage needs a large amount of water, loves shade, and normally develops on acid peatlands.
Hearty
The species Bergenia cordifolia, or Cordifolia, began to be cultivated in the second half of the 18th century. Previously, the plant was isolated in an independent form, today botany classifies it as one of the varieties of medicinal anise. The leaves of a heart-shaped frankincense are dense, leathery, similar in shape to a heart. The flowers are pinkish (in some varieties almost white) or a purple hue.
This is one of the most popular plant species, on the basis of which such varieties are derived (many of them are repair):
- Doppelganger - has heart-shaped leaves and flowers of intense purple color. Height - up to 40 cm, blooms in mid-spring, demanding on the composition of the soil;
- Purpurea - It has bright purple flowers. Looks great on the background of green leaves of many ornamental plants;
- Robusta (Robusta) - a tall plant that blooms throughout the second half of spring with large, plentiful inflorescences;
- Frau Holle - a variety blooming in April, compact inflorescences of white color with a purple middle. Plant height can reach up to 40 cm;
- Silverlight (Silverlight) - It has large dark leaves of a brown hue, combining perfectly with light flowers similar to apricot.
- Herbstblute;
- Rotblum;
- Winterglut and etc.
Pacific
It belongs to large plant species, reaching a height of more than half a meter. On the peduncle of an ocher hue, small purple bells are formed.Pacific frankincense has strong leathery leaves of green color, which with the advent of autumn become burgundy. The shape of the leaves is oval, with slightly uneven edges.
Schmidt
A variety especially prevalent in Europe. It is the result of cross-pollination of various species of the same genus, in this case, the ancestors became thick-leaved and ciliary.
Did you know? In southern Siberia and Altai, a hot drink called Chigirsky or Altai tea is made from badan. Use leaves that were winter under the snow, thus subjected to natural fermentation.
Schmidt Badan has beautiful elliptical foliage with a dense matte surface. The sheet reaches 25 cm in length, about 15 cm in width, and the edge of the plate is serrated. An interesting external feature is the presence near the elongated petiole of processes, similar to wings.
Flowers with a diameter of up to 0.5 cm in purple, lilac or pink color are grouped into dense inflorescences.By autumn, the leaves change color from green to burgundy. They hibernate under the snow, and with the advent of spring and the emergence of shoots they slow down their growth. When the inflorescences wither, and seed bolls begin to form, the leaves resume development.
Swatch
The species comes from the Himalayas and the Pamirs, where it grows on rocky slopes and in crevices. The plant itself has a small size, but has high thick peduncles, reaching 30 cm. In May, it is covered with white and pink flowers at the same time.
The leaves are small, up to 10 cm in length and 2 times less in width. The plate is glossy, elongated, elliptical with serrated edges. Strechi, like other species, native to Tibet, is characterized by high winter hardiness and unpretentiousness.
Ciliated
The birthplace of the species is the Himalayas - this explains its high frost resistance. In the natural environment it grows in rock crevices at an altitude of up to 2.5 km above sea level. In addition, it can often be found in wooded foothills, where he likes to grow in shaded places with enough water. It is easy to distinguish the species from the others by the cilia on the leaf plates. Only the reed incense is similar.
The leaves are round in shape, their diameter can reach up to 35 cm, green in color, which by the fall becomes light burgundy. It has pale pink flowers, one might say, white with a slightly reddish tint. Peduncles can reach 30 cm in height; a large number of rather large flowers, as for this species, are formed on them.
Thanks to beautiful flowers, it is grown for cutting and for decorating gardens. Cotyledonized incense has an interesting feature: if the air temperature drops below –18 ° C, the plant discards foliage.
Hybrid varieties
There are a large number of hybrid varieties of incense, many of which were the result of the work of German breeders. Quite a lot of them are deduced on the basis of the frankincense. These include repair hybrids that bloom twice during the growing season: in early summer, as well as in July-August.
Important! Early incense flowers may darken due to spring back frost. So, for northern latitudes and regions with possible late frosts, it is more advisable to choose late varieties, such as Oeschberg and Eroica.
For example, Doppelganger, which has beautiful purple flowers, and the red-leaved Herbstblute. The last variety, along with Schneekonigin, has an interesting feature: in the cold season, leaves its leaves green. This property makes it possible to make beautiful compositions with varieties, the foliage of which becomes different shades of red by winter.
David has flowers with bright purple flowers, which can not be ignored. At the end of September, the leaves of the variety acquire a burgundy color. Dragonfly blooms with a beautiful pinkish color, which then becomes coral. By mid-September, the leaves of the variety acquire a thick red hue.
It unites a large group of Dragonfly, which includes such hybrids:
- Spring fling - A hybrid of a new selection, up to 30 cm high. Spring Fling blooms in spring, being covered with a rich pink color.
- Dragonfly Sakura - a variety that blooms from late spring to mid autumn in red, white, pink and purple. It usually grows quite high - up to 45 cm. Dragonfly Sakura, thanks to plentiful lush inflorescences, goes well with various plants of all shades of green and yellow.
- Abendglut - a compact variety whose flower stalks height does not exceed 30 cm. At the end of summer, the foliage acquires a chocolate-bronze hue, flowers of purple color.
- Eroica - beautiful flowers have a cornflower blue color that go well with shades of green and yellow. Foliage with the onset of cold weather takes on a shade of burgundy.
- Baby doll - Blossoms in a delicate purple color, perfect for growing along the perimeter of a flower bed. In addition, the variety is often grown in pots and for cutting. Baby Doll grows slowly, does not require special care, although it has wonderful decorative qualities.
- Glockenturm - differs in saturated pink color and high growth, up to 50 cm. Has an attractive smell and large bright green foliage.
- Morgenrote - a repair hybrid, which blooms first in the spring - the beginning of summer, again - in the fall. During this period, the plant is covered with a beautiful pink color.
- Scheekoenigin - a high grade, flower stalks of which can reach 50 cm. It has green leaves with a wavy contour. It blooms with a pale white color, which then acquires a purple hue.
- Silberlicht - An exquisite and sophisticated variety, high, up to 40 cm, blooms in white or pale lilac.
- Sunningdale - It has beautiful purple flowers located on peduncles up to 40 cm high.
- Bressingham white - a compact bush growing up to 30 cm tall, in spring covered with beautiful white flowers.
- Ballawley - the height of the peduncle can reach 40 cm. The variety is unpretentious, its coral flowers are perfectly combined with many plants of other species and shades, allowing you to create wonderful compositions from them.
Seat selection and landing
Badan prefers places well lit by sunshine, moderately fertile soil. In principle, many varieties are able to live in the shade, but some of the lack of light bloom worse, however, their bush thus becomes more magnificent.
Important! When planting a canoe, you need to remember this rule: the more sunny the plot, the more humid the landing site should be.
The most favorable location of the site near the reservoir - the plant loves moist soil. As for the acidity of the soil, the incense normally grows on a substrate of any type - from calcium to fairly acidic. But before planting, it is advisable to dig the soil well and break up clods of earth.
Planted in October or March. It is better to buy plant seedlings in a specialized store. Despite the possibly higher price at such retail outlets, you can guaranteed to purchase high-quality planting material. In addition, many similar stores today have opened Internet pages and are working, offering delivery. When preparing the landing area, you should mark it up, keeping a distance of 40–45 cm between plants. Badan grows well, so it needs enough space.
The following is a description of the planting technology of the plant:
- On the marked territory, dig out the planting pits so that the rhizome of the plant is freely placed in them, while there is room for laying drainage.
- Dig the required number of holes, on the bottom of each of which lay a layer of drainage (12-15 cm), consisting of crushed stone, chipped tiles or bricks, sand, or a mixture of them.
- Meanwhile, prepare the substrate from equal parts of peat, humus, compost and turf. For each bucket of the resulting mixture add 5–6 tbsp. l nitroammophoski.
- Lay on the drainage a layer of prepared substrate with a thickness of 10-15 cm, on which to put a sapling of incense, spread the roots and sprinkle with the same soil mixture, periodically tamping.
- Water the plant, about 1 bucket of water each, mulch the soil with sawdust, needles or peat, you can mix these materials.
Video: planting a canoe
Care and control of diseases and pests
Caring for a plant is simple: it does not need to be fertilized (what you contributed during planting is enough), just water and crop. Moreover, pruning is extremely simple - it is enough to remove dried leaves in the spring, and the culture will give a lot of new beautiful greens. In addition, you should remove the inflorescences that have faded and begin to fade. Leaves that were winter under the snow can be used to make tea.
As for watering, this should be done often, however, preventing the plant from flooding. It is necessary to be guided by the degree of moisture in the soil, it must not be allowed to dry out. Badan has a strong immunity, therefore it is practically not susceptible to diseases and pests. The foliage of the plant can sometimes suffer from snails and weevils.
Beneficial features
In Europe, the incense is known primarily as an ornamental plant. However, in Mongolia, Buryatia, Altai and other regions of Asia, he is known primarily as a perennial from which tea is made.
- The drink helps with many ailments, for example, in such cases:
- cleanses the body, removing toxins and free radicals;
- helps with gastrointestinal diseases, especially with gastric and duodenal ulcers;
- contributes to the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms in the intestine;
- inhibits inflammatory processes in the body;
- It has a mild diuretic and hemostatic effect.
Badan should be planted in your own garden, not only because of its attractive appearance, but also because it is an absolutely unpretentious plant. Thanks to beautiful flowering and large leaves, it combines with so many garden plants, loves places near ponds and is suitable for creating landscape compositions.