Medicinal plants – Gentian
The Russian name gentian speaks for itself, derived from the word “bitterness”, due to the bitter taste of the plant’s rhizomes. There are about 100 species of gentian in our country. They are most widespread in nature in Eastern Siberia, in the mountains of the Caucasus, Tibet, and the Carpathians. The name in Latin – “Gentiana” – is associated with the name of King Gentius, who ruled in ancient Illyria 500 BC. It was he, according to legend, who discovered the healing properties of gentian, saving his people from the plague.
Gentians, depending on growing conditions, differ in size, shape of flowers and leaves, colors, and flowering time. Plant height is from 10 cm to 2 meters. Small gentians that have a small root system and require a minimum of useful soil, these gentians grow among stones quite high in the mountains.
As for the treatment of the stomach, gentian tea is used for it, which is prepared by boiling one teaspoon of dry crushed root in one glass of water. This remedy is used warm, almost hot, because it works much more powerfully this way.
if you need gentian, cultivation is, in principle, not difficult. You just need to understand that it grows very slowly: for example, gentian begins to bloom only in the third to fifth year. Gentian is afraid of drying out, so it is better to grow it in protected places. Forest clearings or otherwise sheltered plantations from the wind are often used.
Planting gentian is best done on drained soil with lime, or use humus. Gentian does not really like abundant watering and also does not really like the sun. It is almost always planted as seeds in the ground without the seedling stage. In order for this crop to take root well, it requires careful treatment and consideration of all the requirements that distinguish this useful but whimsical plant.
Accordingly, gentians are tall and powerful and are found in more spacious and fertile places. Flowers are most often all shades of blue or cyan, less often white, yellow gentian is especially common.
