General characteristics of the plant, tips for cultivating elecampane in a flower bed or in a garden, tips for breeding inula, interesting facts, species. Elecampane (Inula) bears the synonymous name Yellow, and it is ranked among the genus of plants with a perennial life cycle, in rare cases annual, which are attributed to the Asteraceae family. This family in itself unites representatives of the flora, which have two cotyledons in the embryo, placed oppositely. Almost all members of this family grow in European countries, Asia and even Africa. The genus includes up to 100 varieties of these specimens of the green world, and there are up to 30 varieties of them on the territory of Russia.
Among the people, the plant has very diverse names - meadow aman, Elena's tears, Elena's heart, divosil or elecampane, Oman, nine-force. But elecampane bears its scientific name from the Greek word "inaein", which translates as - to cleanse, and the specific name from the Greek language means "sun", which owes it to the golden petals of flowers. For a long time, this unassuming sunny herb has been known for its medicinal effects, but also as an ancient food culture.
The rhizome is long, creeping, colored in a dark brown hue, and it is a medicinal raw material. The surface of the rhizome is wrinkled, if you cut it, you can see the flesh of a yellow-brown color. If you dig it up, then you can immediately clearly hear a peculiar aroma, how the plant differs from other green representatives of the garden, the taste of the rhizome is bitter-spicy. From it, multiple root lateral appendages originate, as well as vegetative buds. From the latter, stems develop, with the help of which the entire aerial part of the elecampane will be formed. Stems are upright, in some varieties they can reach 2 meters in height. Sometimes there is glandular pubescence or the entire surface of the stem is furrowed, painted in a brown shade.
The leaf plates, which are located in the basal and lower part of the stem, are large in size (about 50 cm), have petioles, whole-edged, leathery and rough to the touch. Those that begin to grow from the middle to the top of the stem are already sessile, stalk-embracing. Long flowering stems originate from their sinuses. The foliage color is green, saturated. There are teeth along the edge. Some species also have leaves sparsely glandular-pubescent on the upper side, and on the back - gray-tomentose, due to the already dense pubescence.
The inflorescences are large, they consist of flower baskets of yellow, orange, dark yellow or golden color. In the shape of the inflorescence, racemose or corymbose, although sometimes the flowers singly crown the stem. The diameter can reach 6–8 cm. The flower basket consists of tubular and reed buds. Flowering usually begins in the second half of summer and lasts until the beginning of autumn days. In their outlines, the flowers are very similar to small asters or sunflowers.
Fruit ripening can begin in parallel with flowering. The fruit is formed in the form of achenes. Because of its unpretentiousness, elecampane is loved by flower growers and designers of personal plots, as it tolerates winters well and pleases the eye with flowers-suns, effectively standing out against the background of green foliage.
Recommendations for growing elecampane in the garden, care
- Choosing a landing site. Since the plant has a long-term growth period, the place for planting needs to be thought out in advance. Most often, "Elena's tears" are used to decorate parks, humid places near ponds or man-made lakes. You can see him planted along the paths. Shady areas with high soil moisture are best suited. It will be good for a plant in the openwork shade of trees or in partial shade from buildings. It must be remembered that drafts are very harmful to elecampane.
- Substrate preparation. For the inula to feel comfortable, the soil must have good air permeability and friability and high nutritional value. Therefore, if the soil on the site is heavy, then it is lightened by adding humus or other loosening compounds to the substrate. Such land must be prepared already in the fall. When digging, compost, humus or other organic fertilizing is introduced into the soil. If the soil itself is fertile, then they are limited to adding urea in the autumn period, a mixture of phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, at the rate of 40-50 grams per 1 square meter. And with the arrival of spring, fertilizing with ammonia and nitrogen is already introduced for planting.
- Fertilizers for elecampane it is required to apply during the entire first year of growth. Nitrophoska is used in the phase of the beginning of the formation of leaves located in the root zone. The repetition is performed in 3-4 weeks, when the aerial stems begin to grow. If the plant retires in the autumn months, then it is also fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer. In the case of a medicinal collection, the grass is fertilized annually.
- Watering. In the following years after planting elecampane, you can not fertilize, but regularly moisten, although the plant is considered both winter-hardy and drought-resistant.
Breeding and planting elecampane
Usually, during the reproduction of inula, sowing of seeds, division of rhizomes or planting of seedlings are carried out.
To get a new plant by sowing seeds, special preparation is not carried out. In the spring or summer, they are sown in separately made holes. You can use the old one after digging the rhizome. The row method is also used - a distance of 35–45 cm is maintained between the rows, with a depth of about 1–2 cm. The substrate is slightly moistened before sowing. After 14 days, you can wait for the shoots to appear. When the seedlings reach 5–6 cm, they are thinned out, and this operation is repeated as the bushes mature. The area with the growth of the bush should be no more than 60x60 cm.
In the spring, the bush is divided, which has reached a 2-year period, when its leaves begin to grow. The plant is dug in with a sharp shovel around the perimeter and pulled out of the soil, the substrate is shaken off from the roots. It is recommended to rinse the rhizome first, dry it a little and then cut it with a sharpened and disinfected knife. Sections are sprinkled with activated or charcoal crushed into powder. It is important for each division that there are renewal buds. If it is necessary to separate nine forces after he has grown pepper, then part of its leaves at the bottom of the stems, as well as all the stems, must be removed. Delenki are planted in prepared holes.
To obtain seedlings, sowing is carried out in February days. Crops and seedlings are taken care of as usual. And when they grow up, they land on a chosen place in the garden or on a flower bed in the second half of May.
Interesting facts about elecampane
This representative of the flora is known to many as a medicinal crop, but it was popular in ancient Rome as a vegetable and spice plant. For these qualities elecampane was especially respected by the Roman aristocrats, recognizing its useful properties.
It is interesting that if you boil the rhizomes of elecampane in sugar, then they acquire a special aroma and successfully serve as a substitute for ginger, and delicious jam can be cooked from young roots.
Since inula contains in itself the forces of such planets as Mars, Jupiter and our star - the Sun, it is not surprising that it was used in magical rituals. Even in ancient times in Russia, it was customary for soldiers going to the battlefield to give elecampane powder with them. This tool was used only on the tip of a knife in the morning hours to restore strength for the entire long journey. Therefore, it is customary to use preparations based on "Elena's tears" to give strength and increase human capabilities, especially if the warriors were to fight.
Also, if the powder was prepared according to a special recipe, then it served as a talisman against wounds and defeats. The amulet in which the elecampane is located can protect the room from evil spells, and if you wear one around the neck or in the pocket of clothes, then people believed in protection from certain types of evil spirits. Such was considered evil, feeding on the emissions of energy born of fear, for example, Shusha.
Also in ancient times elecampane was used as a love spell. In Russia, they said that the one to whom it was applied would love "with nine forces" and would not leave until death, and, in contrast to the same love plant as lovage, reciprocity would be of its own free will.
Types of elecampane
- Elecampane (Inula grandiflora) has straight stems, decorated with pith-shaped leaf plates. Those leaves that grow at the base of the stem are more broadly lanceolate with elongated outlines. When the flowering period begins, the plant approaches 150–160 cm in height. Flower baskets are 4–6 cm across, of which long paniculate inflorescences located at the tops of the stems are collected. The color of the flowers is orange-yellow. Flowering time is in the middle of summer. After the flowers wither, the fruit ripens in the form of achenes, the seeds of which have no fly, but are large in size.
- Elecampane magnificent (Inula magnifica). In the wild, this perennial species can be found only in the Caucasus, in its subalpine belt. The plant has a powerful, spreading and majestic shape, reaching a height of 2 meters. The stalk is thick, its surface is covered with grooves. The leaf plates, which are located at the very base at the roots and on the lower part of the stem, are very large in size, their shape is elliptical-oblong, the length can reach half a meter with a width of a quarter of a meter. At its base, the leaf is narrower and goes smoothly into a petiole with a length of 30-60 cm. The leaves at the top of the shoots do not have petioles and they are much smaller than the lower ones. The diameter of flower baskets can be up to 15 cm, they are crowned with long peduncles measuring 25 cm. Inflorescences of a rare corymbose shape of 2-4 baskets can be collected from the flowers, but sometimes they grow solitary. The petals are yellow, the flowering process is abundant in July-August. The seeds begin to ripen in August and continue throughout September. After the flowers wither, the plant loses its beauty due to yellowing of the foliage and it is recommended to prune it.
- Elecampane high (Inula helenium). The main growing areas are considered to be the lands of the Caucasus, Europe and Siberia, where the plant likes to settle in fairly light pine and deciduous forests, on the slopes of meadows and steppes, as well as along the banks of river arteries. A perennial with stems, with the help of which a beautiful cylindrical bush is formed, reaching a height of 2.5 m. The powerful rhizome has a pronounced odor. The leaves growing in the lower part of the stem and at its roots have oblong-elliptical outlines and large sizes, in width they vary within 15–20 cm with a length of up to 40–50 cm. Already from the middle of the stem, the foliage is devoid of petioles, it is sessile. At the base, such a leaf is heart-shaped, stalk-embracing. Flower baskets can grow up to 8 cm in diameter, petals are golden yellow, attached to short and plump flower-bearing stems originating in the leaf bracts, sometimes racemose inflorescences are collected from flower baskets. Flowers with their outlines are very similar to small sunflowers. The flowering period lasts from mid to late summer. The length of time during which the flowers remain on the plant is stretched out for 30–35 days. Ripening of seeds begins in August and ends at the end of September. But if seed is not needed, then it is recommended to cut the plant, as it is prone to self-seeding and decorativeness falls.
- Elecampane British (Inula britannica) is a perennial plant up to 25–60 cm in height. The rhizome is thin and creeping, the stem is upright with slight pubescence. The leaves growing in its lower part have petioles, and those at the top are stalk-enveloping. From several pieces of flower baskets with a bright yellow color, inflorescences are collected. The flowering process takes place in July-August.
- Sword-leaved elecampane (Inula ensifolia) has small compact dimensions that vary in the range of 15-30 cm in height. The leaf plates are narrow, reaching 6 cm in length. The diameter of the flower heads is 2–4 cm. Flowering lasts for one and a half to two months, starting in mid-summer. It is grown mainly in rock gardens.
- Sandy elecampane (Inula sabuletorum) was first described in 1926 in the work of the botanist Yevgeny Mikhailovich Lavrenenko. It grows on the territory of Bulgaria, the European part of Russia and can be found in the North Caucasus. And in the countries of the Caucasus, as well as its settlement falls on the lands of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Romania and Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. He revered the sandy steppes as his favorite places. Perennial with a herbaceous form of growth, reaching a height of 30-60 cm. It has a long and creeping rhizome. The surface of the leaves is leathery, they have pubescence, the stem leaf plates are narrow-lanceolate. Inflorescences in the form of flower baskets are distinguished by a bright yellow color. When ripe, an achene appears with a brown tint and an oblong-linear shape, the appendage is whitish, with a bristled tuft. The flowering process stretches from late June to early September.
- Elecampane or as it is also called Elecampane Christ's eye (Inula oculus-christi) was first described by Karl Linnaeus in the middle of the 18th century (1753). The name is synonymous with Aster oculus-christi. It grows on the territory of many European states, as well as in the central and southern European part of Russia, this also includes the lands of the North Caucasus, Georgia, Iran, Syria and nearby Asian countries. The plant loves to settle in steppe regions, on rocky and steppe slopes, in shrub thickets. Perennial with parameters varying in height within the range of 15-50 cm, with a rhizome, rosette. The stem has glandular pubescence. The leaf plates are oblong in shape, with petioles and also having pubescence of the glands. Inflorescences in the form of flower baskets with petals of a golden tone, the leaves of the envelope take on linear-lanceolate outlines. When the fruit ripens, an achene appears. The flowering process lasts from May to July. This species is listed in the Red Data Books of Russia (Voronezh and Smolensk regions) and the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine is included here.
- Eastern elecampane (Inula orientalis) is a perennial with a herbaceous form of growth, the stem is upright, reaching 70 cm in height. The leaf plates have elongated spatulate outlines. Inflorescences-baskets are collected from dark yellow flowers. The flowering process lasts from July to early autumn. Cultivated as a cultural form in 1804.
- Elecampane Roila (Inula royleana). A perennial plant with a strong erect stem, reaching a height of 60 cm. Elongated leaf plates grow up to 25 cm long. The flowers are single with a golden yellow tone, measure 4–5 cm across. In culture it has been grown since the end of the 19th century (1897)).
More on elecampane high in the following plot:
